Escapade
by Lache-avec-du-Charme
Summary: Koenma's decided that Lord Voldemort has finally crossed the line by recruting demons to his Death Eaters. Now Magical Japan is getting involved. Without, of course, the knowledge or permission of England. Or their school. No fanon pairngs. NEW USER NAME.
1. In which The Boys are going to France

**Just because I'm bored…I have no life, you know…**

**SPOILER WARNING****: Probably contains spoilers for Harry Potter Books 1-7 and YuYu Hakusho. But I'm not sure. Don't make me check.**

**Ages for Mentioned / Used Characters:****  
Yusuke Urameshi: 18  
Kazuma Kuwabara: 18  
****Hiei Jaganshi: Less than 100 (thanks due to the Miss who pointed out that lovely bit of logic)  
****Shuichi Minamino / "Shuichi-Kurama": 19  
****Youko Kurama: 1,000 (like in the Japanese anime)  
****Keiko Yukimura: 18  
****Yukina of the Koorime: Less than 100 (see Hiei).  
****Botan: Er…well, I don't think she's as old as she seems…**

**Time-set at Hogwarts is 6****th**** year for Harry, because I love old Dumblydore so and cannot **_**bear**_** to be without th' ol' coot. Mind, it **_**would**_** be 5****th**** year, just so that I may have the Twins, Serious, and Sweet Dolores, but alas, those four with the combination of Yusuke is just too catastrophic. More importantly, I shall be making a slut out of Youko, and therefore want the poor Hogwarts dears to be as well educated as I can stand.**

**Rated T for Teen**** due to swearing, mild sexual reference, violence, and death threats. But I'll try to keep it tame.**

* * *

**Chpt. 1  
****In which The Boys are going to France**

"Sir!" The blue ogre, Jorge, tumbled into Koenma's office at a sprint, several papers clutched in his fist.

"What!" The demi-god snapped back – as usual, he was seated at his desk with ridiculous stacks of paperwork piled around him, in a very sorry state because of it.

He moodily proceeded stamping papers while Jorge continued with, "I have the reports on the demonic activity in Europe, as you requested."

"Read them to me, Ogre!"

"Yes, Lord Koenma," He nervously cleared his throat, "It says that the activity is practically non-existent in the main body of Europe; however, it is very abundant in certain, focused areas across the United Kingdom. The demonic energy levels do not exceed low "C" class, but it may be that a powerful wizard by the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle, alias Lord Voldemort, is controlling them, and due to his infamous criminal record, especially against non-magical or non-spiritual humans, that may become a problem. Plus, if the wizard population becomes aware of _Makai_'s creatures again, then there is no telling what may happen – but they will probably attempt to exterminate the entire species like last time…"

"And if this becomes so, then Japan, and eventually _Reikai_, will be the first place they come to, correct, Ogre?"

"Well, we _do_ have a long history with demons…it would be most logical."

"Send Botan to me and inform my father of this immediately."

"Yes, My Lord."

Yusuke was content with his new life – well, sure, now that he'd moved back into the _Ninginkai_ he had to start into Junior High again if he ever wanted to get a conventional job so that he could support Keiko, and _that _had raised some eyebrows, but all was good. Especially since they had gotten married…him and Keiko, of course. He'd made a promise to her, after all.

He still went back to the _Makai_ from time-to-time with Kurama to visit Hiei, and to spar with them, so that he didn't (or they, for that matter) get too restless, or out of practice. Keiko didn't mind, as long as he wasn't away for more than a day, because of his "studies" – gone after school on Saturday, home before ten PM on Sunday.

That and he had to do his homework first – but Kurama would usually complete it for him, the more time to spar. Sneaky old bastard got all the right questions wrong, too, so Keiko wouldn't notice…which Yusuke _should_ probably count as an insult, but still…if you thought about it, it was actually pretty considerate.

And sometimes, when Koenma was in a real spot with some demons, Yusuke would take care of it for him – sometimes with help from Kuwabara, or even Kurama. The best part was that now a days, they _always_ received money in return. Yusuke kept the yen in a bank account he and Keiko had made for savings.

With all that, despite still being in Middle School, Yusuke felt he was growing into a right proper adult. And since that made Keiko and Mom happy, well…he was happy too, damn it!

And life moved on.

Except…

"…I can see doing _little_ shit for you, like, 'Oh, Yusuke, go kill the big scary demon who's eating innocent children,' and, 'Could you stomp on that little parade of apparitions trying to sell human appendy-whats-its—?"

"Appendages."

"—Appendages?' but _this takes the fucking cake_! You want me to go to _France_?_ FRANCE_?"

"I believe, Yusuke, he said '_England_'."

"Oh, _fuck off_, Kurama! Go be smart somewhere else!" The person in question rolled his eyes and re-arranged his crossed arms.

"You could always just refuse if it bothers you so much. I have to admit, I, too, am a little offended by Koenma-sama's offer, but you don't see _me_ breaking my _very_ sensitive eardrums…"

"If you didn't catch it, Detectivethat's a hint."

"_Dammit you guys_—!" Defeated, Yusuke stuffed his hands into his pockets and sulked.

"_Thank you_, Kurama. I'm glad _someone's _civilized around here."

"Do not thank me. As I have said, _I_ am cross with you, also. I would think that after what we went through in our last escapade concerning _Reikai_, you would not have the gull to ask us to complete another long-term mission, let alone an _over-seas_ one, ever again. Even for pay." Koenma sighed tiredly, in response to the Kurama's monotone.

"Don't you have a Spirit Dog in your reserve somewhere?"

"I concur with Hiei."

"Yeah!"

"Well…he's not yet capable. But what I want to discuss with you now, before you all decide to up and—,"

"Oh? So you _do_, Koenma-sama?"

"Er…"

"That's it," Hiei growled, "I am done with you all. Send me back to the _Makai_ and leave me the hell alone!"

"Wait! Listen to me you three, all you'll have to do is make sure a certain person does not fall into harm and destroy all demons you come into contact with! You don't have to learn anything, don't have to befriend anyone, don't even have to go to _classes_!"

"I do not care. I am resuming college at the end of the summer, and I will _not _be putting it off to learn magic tricks instead."

"Kurama! I'm surprised at you! I would think you would value this an…an exciting learning experience!"

"Don't try to bribe me, Koenma-sama! I would choose Botany over learning how to pull a rabbit out of one's hat _any_ day."

"…Y-you guys didn't even hear what I was planning on paying you!" Koenma blurted out, rather randomly.

"Like it'll make any difference."

"You _may_ change your mind, Hiei. Don't belittle _Reikai_'s funds before you know its extent!"

"Don't make me _laugh_."

"Let's just get this over with. Koenma-sama, show us…?"

"Here. This is the price we will be paying you _each _individually, for every month you spend in Europe." And he wrote the amount in the margin of some paper work, afterwards turning the paper around so that the group could read it.

Yusuke's eyes did bulge at the sum, and even though he wasn't _that _bad at mathematics, he shuddered at the thought of multiplying it by twelve. However, he quickly kept his grace by turning his nose up in the air. "Nope. Not even if you paid me."

Then from the corner of his eye, Yusuke observed the reaction of his two friends; Hiei, he saw, was in the same state of mind as he; Kurama however was staring at the number, biting his lower lip tentatively.

"Er, Kurama…?"

"One year in service… That…that could pay for all of my years in college…_and_ buy Mother her stove…"

"Oh _Hell_."

Koenma's eyebrows rose. "Oh, yeah, Kurama…wasn't your mother saving yen to renovate her kitchen—," The kitsune lit his face with a glare, "—but instead is using it to help you pay your was through college?"

"Don't. You. Start with me, Koenma-sama."

"I'm surprised you're taking that tone with me, Kurama. Besides, I was just speaking aloud…" Really, the toddler knew he was being unfair; but he was desperate.

Kurama pondered the number another long moment before sighing, looking up to somberly stare at Koenma. "I'm in."

More gasping.

"But, _Kurama_—,"

"If I said I was going to study in an extended period England before college; that I had gotten a letter inviting me to come, but it hadn't been delivered until the summer, as that is when the English have their grade changes…Mother would understand. I am quite sure she would allow me to drop out. I can come up with a way of how I would have gotten the money to pay for my expenses and eventual college fees later. Among other things."

"But you can't just _disappear_ for a year!" In actuality, Yusuke would be missing his company. And Hiei's as well, for he wasn't sure how to get into the _Makai_ without Kurama's help. And convincing Hiei to spend his free time in _Ninginkai_ was laughable.

_And_ Kuwabara was just about as obsessed with studies as Keiko was…

"Oh? And this is coming from the boy who left the _Ninginkai_, never to be seen again for three years?"

Yusuke resumed sulking. He looked again at the yen he would be paid…would Keiko still be angry if he left if he sent back _that much_ every month in return…?

Plus, think of it – gallivanting mindlessly about a foreign country with two of his best friends…well, perhaps "gallivanting" wasn't the best word, as they would be going to a boarding school, but… He could just imagine the looks on the teachers' faces – heathen-boy Urameshi, skipping classes and smoking on the roof…

He wasn't aloud to anymore, Keiko's orders.

But Koenma said they didn't really have to do anything, learning-wise. Which fitted _his_ criteria just fine.

"Sure. I'll go – come t' think of it, Keiko would really like the yen…"

Koenma stifled a smile – once he'd roped Kurama, the rest came easily enough. "Well? Hiei?"

Hiei looked at the three before him – the Fox, the Detective, the Baby—

"Hell-No."

"_Hiei_—!"

"What happed to _you_, Detective? Five seconds ago, you were just as sore about this as _I_ was. Let alone the Fox."

"Well…just think of it; being in a magical-like place would be just like _Makai_, and you know how much _fun_—,"

"No, you idiot, it is nothing like the _Makai_ – for when in the _Ninginkai_, you still have to abide by Human rules, no matter where you reside, and _one_ of these rules happens to ban the slaughtering of the very creatures I despise most."

"Aw, c'mon, Hiei, you can't do that in _Makai_, anyway!"

"No, but you can still take your anger out on the weak, defenseless natives if you please. They scream plenty if you stab in the right places, too. _Just_ like humans," A half-smirk twisted onto his face.

"Hiei, haven't ya' ever heard of small, fluffy creatures? They're practically the same thing!"

"I hope you know, Yusuke, that _foxes_ happen to fall under the category of 'small, fluffy creatures'."

"Er…"

"No chance, Detective. I am _not _degrading myself by working for you people again. For profit or for freedom," He began to tread away.

"So you would rather rot in jail for three hundred years than work on probation again?"

Hiei, halfway to the exit, stopped dead in his tracks and spun on his heel to glower at Koenma. "_What are you suggesting_?"

"Well, Hiei, you _did _help in the murder of Sensui, _didn't you_?"

"Your _point_? All I did was fight him! It was Yusuke who finished him off!"

"But you helped none-the-less. Here at _Reikai_, we let you off on punishment for it since it was for the better, but we _could_, if we felt the need, revoke that permit…in which you would either have to serve three hundred years in prison, _or_ do charity work – and I think the currant mission I will be assigning Yusuke and Kurama would be sufficient enough…"

Koenma _had_ said he was desperate.

Flat-out lying was fair game by now.

Hiei's narrowed eyes darted from the poker mask Koenma currently expressed, to the one worn by that damned blue ogre.

"You're bluffing."

The demi-god shrugged. "If that's what you think. Ogre?"

"Yes, Sir?"

"Please inform the guards of Hiei's criminal status. Tell them to arrest him immediately, in case he decides to attack."

"Of course, Sir…"

"_Fine_! Fucking_ fine_! I'll take your damned offer, but you'd betterpay me as much as you're planning on paying _them_!"

"Of course!" Koenma was suddenly quite cheerful. "I knew I could get you guys to help me out! Now, we'll go over the details, dish out some translators, and then we're through."

Kurama heaved a sigh. _He tricked us, didn't he? The amount he'll pay us for one year is a rounded version of the yen I would need for college and Mother's stove_…

_It's your own damn fault; don't come crying to me like a kit with a bitten muzzle. But oh, well. Foreign people are pretty. _

_Ugh. _

_What? Something I said? _

"Alright, Koenma-sama. Get this over with already."

"Okay, then! But, before we get on with this, I would like to inform you that there _is_ such a thing as magic." Yusuke's eyes widened, while Kurama and Hiei gave each other exasperated glances. "Don't look at me like that, Yusuke, you use it all the time! – it's just spirit or demon energy, but Westerners _call_ _it_ magic. Much of Asia actually uses it, too; Japan is the only country that continues the practice of spirit energy in the way that Easterners first developed it. The way of the Westerners is less physically demanding, you see, so many switched to that.

"The reason you've never heard of this before, is that Magical Japan has never been on good terms with Magical Europe, and now, Magical Asia, due to the fact that Europe and much of Asia believes that demons like you three have been slaughtered to extinction. The actual reason is, of course, that they were banished to the _Makai_; but the Ministers refuse to listen," Koenma shook his head.

"Koenma-sama? Who is our 'Minister', then?"

"Well, _Father_ is, of course. Sometimes I'll pretend to be the Minister in his place, but mostly him."

"Ah. That is all."

"Great," Koenma reached over to a control pad wired into a corner of his desk and tapped a button, following which a large screen began to lower behind the three. They faced the television as it extended fully, and then he pressed another button; the screen lit, showing the face of a completely bald, sickeningly pale, nose-less man with red, cattish eyes. "This human magic wielder, or wizard, is Tom Marvolo Riddle. He'd more commonly known as Lord Voldemort, or Voldemort-sama, to the people of Europe, so be used to hearing them call him that."

"He looks like _he's_ died more times than _I_ have…"

"Actually, no – he's only died once," Yusuke gave Koenma a strange look, "But anyway. We have strong reason to believe that he has been summoning demons from the _Makai_ to work for him, either in slavery or in alliance. Part—,"

"Wait, I'm sorry – a _human_ is summoning _demons_ into the _Ninginkai_, and _forcing_ them—?"

"Magic affects demons, too, Kurama," Kurama frowned. "And there _are_ summoning incantations that can be used to teleport demons; it's just a matter of finding them, let alone using them – such black magic is illegal in Europe, and it is very complicated stuff.

"Besides, nothing above a "C"-class would be weak enough to be pulled through dimensions. Summoning spells are very delicate, not very powerful. And as you should know, weak demons are quite easy to control for someone who knows how to use them."

"Ah."

"Part of your mission is to destroy the incantations used to accomplish this, as well as any demons and/or followers, called 'Death Eaters', of this human. Lord Voldemort himself, if possible. I say if possible because there is a prophet that says there is only one who is destined to kill Voldemort. As I have said, since _Reikai_ has never been on good terms with Magical Europe, we were not monitoring the events that lead up to, nor the release of this prophecy, and therefore have had to rely on rumors. The only reason we are interfering now is because this Lord Voldemort has gotten powerful enough to meddle in the affairs of demons, which is obviously cutting into _our_ line of work.

"This brings us to our next topic; Voldemort has been viciously attempting to murder the one the prophecy states ever since he caught wind of it. The boy in question attends an English magic school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and has currently survived five direct attacks from Voldemort," A new picture flashed onto the screen – one of a teenage boy with bottle-green eyes, glasses, and a scar on his forehead, which bore a strong resemblance to a lightning bolt. The unkemptness of his black hair made Kurama flinch.

"His name is Harry James Potter, he is sixteen years old, and he will be your charge while you are stationed. We want to take extra precautions in the case that Potter-san's lucky streak runs out.

"As you can imagine, it would be _very _helpful if he were not aware of this, and you will keep it so. You will also keep this little bit of information from every other being you come into contact with there, unless either in case of emergency, which will be decided solely by Kurama, or unless told so _directly from me or my father only_. I will give you some communicators so that we may keep in touch.

"You will also be keeping secret the fact that you are demons, the fact that you are _not _sixteen years old, or the fact that you have never had a bit of experience with western magic before this. The arranged excuse is that you were apprenticed to a sensei, and that is how you've learned eastern magic," Kurama and Hiei snorted, "While you _did_ study western magic, you did not actually _practice_ it, due to insufficient supplies – such as wands, potion ingredients, etcetera. We'll give you each a book on such to study over the time before your mission begins – you'll have about a month."

"May I ask another question?"

"Of course, Kurama."

"How are we to _use_ the wands we will supposedly be acquiring?"

"Just like you use your plants, Kurama, or Yusuke his Spirit Gun – generate your demon energy into the wand and say the incantation."

"Thank you. Now, is that all, or…?"

"No – but I'm almost done. You will meet on the second of September in my office at approximately 8:00 PM, where you will be teleported, via dimension, into London, in a back alley close to a wizard's inn by the name of The Leaky Caldron. You enter there, and Hogwarts will have an escort awaiting you, to help you purchase the things you would need for school, and to have you put up in a room for the night. The same escort will be there the next day at 10:00 AM to get you to the train station, where you will then have to find your train and board. Once there, you're school-bound, no problem. You will be starting in the sixth year of school there – equivalent to 10th grade in conventional schooling. You'll be given your train tickets and acceptance letters when you arrive at _Reikai_. Oh, and also, I suggest you all take a long nap before coming – it'll be noon in London."

"Just a moment – there's an _escort_? How in the world did you…?"

"Well, I've already confirmed with the school that I would have three Japanese transfer students attending…I just didn't say who they were, in case the three of you bailed…but I'll fix that after you leave."

"_Bastard_."

"Er, now, now, Hiei—,"

"Koenma-sama, I'm loosing my patience again, give us our things and let us leave."

"Of, of course…" Koenma shuffled beneath his desk for a moment, then pulled out two plain, wooden boxes, stacked atop one-another. He placed them on the table, then opened the larger top box, revealing three communicators. Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei each took one without being told.

Koenma placed that box aside and lifted the lid of the remaining box. It was fashioned much the same as the other, except the inside contained three dangling earrings. They each appeared to be made out of solid glass. The demons stared at them hesitantly.

"These are your translators – just insert it into your ear, and you have the ability to communicate in any language; your demon energy will do the rest. The catch is, once you have it on, you must have the language you desire to speak in said so that the sound waves hit the earring directly. This will activate it, and whichever language was spoken will become your primary tongue. I believe you will still be able to speak in Japanese; you'll just have to think about it, first. It resets itself when you remove it."

"And…we must have our _ears_ _pierced_ for these?"

"Of course. Isn't that the point of an earring?"

"Oh _hell_."

**lll**

Harry Potter was eating his breakfast while his best friend, Ron Weasley, sat beside him, doing the same. Across from them were Ginny Weasley, Ron's sister, and next to her Hermione Granger; both were also eating, talking animatedly about something or other. Mrs. Weasley stood at the sink, washing some dishes while she hummed a tune.

One might ask why Harry and his friend Hermione were staying at their friend's, Ron's, house, and that was because Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts and friend to the Weasley family, had seemingly taken pity on Harry and placed him in the Weasleys' care for the remainder of the summer. Hermione accompanied them because it merely seemed fair.

Mr. Weasley in question was out, working the night shift. And as the clever grandfather clock's hand that held the picture of him turned from work, to traveling, to home, the said bounded through the front door, without so much as a Death Eater defensive password or phrase even mentioned. It startled the people in the kitchen/dining room, but their looks of surprise flitted to curiosity when they saw the beaming smile on Mr. Weasley's face.

"Guess what, everyone!"

"Arthur, Dear, what is it, you look…flushed. Is there anything wrong—?"

"Oh no, no, this is very exciting!" Harry was about to ask if it was anything about Voldemort, but quitted the thought when Mr. Weasley belted out, "You lot will have such a fun school year!"

"Dad, stop having a fit and tell us already," Ginny said, spearing some sausage on her fork and popping it into her mouth.

"Foreign students! Who would have ever thought, _Hogwarts_ is taking on foreign students. Think of the—!"

"You act as if we're adopting a pair of muggles," Ron interjected, rolling his yes at Harry.

"_Ron_, these students could represent an alliance between Japan and England! The whole of Great Britain, for goodness sakes, or Europe! That would _defiantly_ raise our chances of defeating You-Know-Who."

"_Japan_?" Ginny, and Hermione echoed; though, Hermione sounded more confused than anything.

"Yes! Japan has always been legendary for its magical offence, and it may be _just_ what we need!"

**lll**

"I don't _get_ it…"

"_What_, Hermione? You've been muttering that ever since we left breakfast, and it's _annoying_!" Ron groaned, shifting on his back as to catch the sunlight more efficiently; Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were all outside, enjoying the beautiful, sunny day, and their full stomachs.

"Well…what I can't understand is, why would Japan want anything to do with us? Magical Europe and Magical Japan have never gotten along, let alone England, as both the cultures and religions have always been extremely different from each other. The last time the Magical Japan spoke with the Magical England was in the early 1600's, when the two ministers had a nasty fight about the extinction of demons. I read that Japan was pretty sore about England thinking they had exterminated them all, and that they had decided to stop holding festivals to drive away evil demons."

"What?" Harry interrupted, "Demons are extinct? What about kelpies, and—?"

"Well, yes, those _are_ demons, but the kind _I'm_ talking about had a sort of human form, though with horns and green skin, things like that. I guess you could compare them to centaurs – they could talk and everything, just like them, except they were always evil; that was the reason the whole of Europe wished to be rid of the creatures, and that's also another one of the arguments Japan and England had. You see, the Japanese supposedly believe that there are good demons and bad demons, just like there are bad centaurs and good centaurs, and destroying all of them would be horrible."

"So, who was right, the Japanese or the English?" Ron stunned everyone by propping himself up on his elbows and staring curiously at Hermione.

She continued, somewhat surprised, "Well, the English, of course. There were no accounts of 'good' demons anywhere in Europe, so even if there _were_ such things, that would mean they would have never left Japan, then or now. Which is incredible."

"So…moral of the story is…?" Harry had somewhat forgotten the purpose of the conversation…

Hermione huffed. "The '_moral_' is, I don't see any reason for Japan to suddenly warm up to England, and therefore, there is no reason for Japanese students to want to study here, let alone help us _out_!"

"Hermione, I think you're over-analyzing this," Ginny said, smirking. "Maybe they're just interested after not communicating for four hundred-plus years. It's not like Japan's sending a group of teenage spies over to eliminate us. That would be mad."

* * *

**Footnotes: **

"**Koenma-sama"; I hate it when people write / to write with random phrases of Japanese popping out of the English. However, since I am a hypocrite, I make an exception for names of things, 'coz those are just fun, honorifics, 'coz those are too, and for exclamations, because I love interjections. But only from Japanese persons – you won't find me having Ron or somebody popping out, "Yatta!"  
****Which, yes, I **_**have **_**seen before.  
****It was terrifying. I hadn't known Harry could speak Japanese. **

"'**I am resuming college at the end of the summer, and I will **_**not **_**be putting it off to learn magic tricks instead.'"; In Japan, they change grades in the spring time, go to school for a trimester, take summer vacation, and then resume school. Correct me if I'm wrong. **

"**Botany"; Yes, very original of me for making Kurama want to study Botany for college. But hey, the whole Hogwarts **_**idea**_** is just so damn original, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. **

"'**Well, Hiei, you **_**did **_**help in the murder of Sensui, **_**didn't you**_**?'"; Yeah, I know, cheesy and completely unrealistic that such would be legitimate blackmail, but god dammit, it's a helluva' lot more realistic then some of the crap you'll see on here…not necessarily in the same circumstances, but… **

"'**Foreign students! Who would have ever thought, **_**Hogwarts**_** is taking on foreign students. Think of the—!'"; Mr. Weasley knows this the day "the Boys" do because as Koenma said, he'd already informed and got permission from Hogwarts that people were coming there. The Ministry of Magic found out a little later. **

"'**I hear Japan was pretty sore about England thinking they had exterminated them all, and had decided to stop holding festivals to drive away evil demons.'"; Not sure where I got this, but for some reason or another, the Japanese hold festivals, primarily at the spring equinox, to ward off evil demons or spirits, mostly oni. As ****Mordamir wonderfully pointed out, so did Europe – we called it Halloween now-days (or, if you're "different" like me, Hallows Eve).  
****Of course, Halloween is no longer a kill-your-evil-spirit holiday any more, so in accordance to this story, it's because all the evil spirits "died". **


	2. In which Kurama is Mistaken for a girl

**'Figure'd I'd be adding one of these soon… **

**Key:  
"Talking – English in an English setting / Japanese in a Japanese setting; Japanese heard by a person who speaks English."  
****'Talking – Other language than English.'  
****'_Telekinesis'_  
****_Thinking _**

**Hokay. So. Just to give you heads up, I'll probably mainly use Narrator's, Hermione's, and Shuichi-Kurama's point of views in here, for a few reasons – A) Narrator is just easy; B / C) I need, effing NEED, to write in a semi-smart way. Hermione / Shuichi-Kurama gives me this. **

**Plus, Youko-Kurama is one of my favorite characters and I therefore do love to have him commentary on things. Especially in an animalistic, bisexual way – for it seems that all in the YYH fanon have come to an unspoken agreement that the previously un-seductive fox is a slut.  
****But I'm not complaining.  
****I do always love having a perverted character in stories.  
****And Youko's more fun than Yusuke. Who isn't much of a pervert any longer, being that he's married.  
****…Oh, and please spare my poetry. I suck at it, and had no ideas, what-so-ever. Yet alas, I don't think I could've skipped it… **

**Rated T for Teen**

* * *

**Chpt. 2  
In which Kurama is mistaken for a girl on multiple occasions, by multiple persons **

Hagrid fiddled with his pocket watch at the end of the bar where he sat. It was 12:23, and still the foreign students had not entered the Leaky Caldron. This was beginning to make him nervous, which was the cause for his sweaty palms and the quick tapping of his fingers on the counter top.

It was 12:25 when what looked like an Asian lady entered. She had long, red hair past her mid back, and was dressed rather strangely in khaki pants that came up to her mid-torso, a sweater tucked into the pants.

_Mebbe tha's one o' 'em. 'Makes sense tha' they'd wear diff'rnt clothes._

Hagrid stood up from his stool as the woman reached the bar counter and said to the barkeep in a deep, pleasant voice, "Is this a magical venue, or have we gotten the wrong caldron?" There seemed to be a bit of sarcasm underneath the polite, very _male_ tone.

Tom was looking just as startled as Hagrid felt as replied, "Er…yes, actually."

"Thank you," He smiled, "After the third try in a muggle tavern, I felt kind of ridiculous," The redhead turned on his heel and walked out of the pub in a quick, graceful lope. Hagrid began to sit back down, convinced by the perfect accent that the person was not Japanese; but he stood back up again when the redhead re-entered, with two other boys behind him. They both looked irritated. One of them yawned.

The three walked up to the bar, all carrying duffle bags this time, and the redhead spoke again, "We are the new students from Japan. We were told there was to be an escort awaiting us, would you happen to know where they would be?" Tom glanced over at Hagrid, but before he could even open his mouth, the three were staring over at the half-giant, and the same boy said, "Oh. Thank you."

As the boys walked over, he hurriedly stuffed his watch back into one of his side pockets, wiped his palms on his overcoat, and held out a hand. The one he had mistaken for a girl looked more masculine up close. "'Ello. I'm, er, Rebeus Hagrid—,"

But just like Tom, before he could continue speaking, the red-haired boy interjected, "Nice to meet your acquaintance, Rubee-ose-san. I am Minamino Shuichi." He smiled that polite smile, green eyes airily surveying Hagrid like a hawk, and bowed with his arms held to the sides of his body. When he straitened, he continued to ignore Hagrid's upraised hand, as if he didn't know what he was doing. Then he pointed over his shoulder to one of the other two.

"This is Urameshi Yusuke…" Urameshi was dressed with more normal attire, though his jeans also came up to his mid-torso. His black hair was slicked back, and he looked moody as he gave a small nod when his name was said.

"…And this is Jaganshi Hiei," The remaining boy looked older than the other two, who looked eighteen themselves – though, his height didn't jut above five foot, and so he must have been much younger. His hair was very spiky, and his eyes, like Urameshi's, were dark brown. His clothing looked as the other two's, though entirely black, but he still he held himself in a way that made one think he was uncomfortable in the garbs.

He gave no inclination that he even knew Hagrid was there – he just stared dejectedly off to the side, arms crossed.

After a moment of awkward silence, while Jaganshi refused to look at anything, he suddenly hissed in pain and glared death at Minamino. Minamino stared pointedly back, and as Hagrid glanced downward, he saw the redhead's shoe step off of the smaller boy's boot.

After another moment, "…You really shouldn't be bothered with Hiei. He's just a bit antisocial after being forced to leave his sister, whom he cares for very deeply."

The boy's scowl became harsher, and he sneered in perfect English, "At least I don't have a _kleptomaniacal_man-whore trapped in my head, driving me _insane_."

The redhead's answering look much rivaled the one turned upon him, and he replied with, "_Not_ – _now_."

_There_ were three for Slytherin…

"Oi, oi, oi, don't you two start something! I don't want to have to be Mother Hen-Kurama."

"Mother _Hen_?"

"Yeah! You're supposed to baby-sit us, remember? 'Make sure _I _don't kill anything on accident, and make sure _Hiei_ doesn't kill anything on purpose!"

"I'm still not sure how you're planning on accomplishing that, Fox, but you're _quite_ welcome to try."

Minamino, or "Kurama", hissed something to the two of them in a language that Hagrid guessed was Japanese, before he turned and smiled again at him. "You really must excuse us. While we _may_ seem like a group of inappropriate, violent thugs, basically everything you just heard is a joke. You shouldn't take it seriously, Rubee-ose-san."

"Well…o'-o' course. But, could I ask somethin'?"

"That depends on what you wish to inquire about."

"Er… How're yeh able t' talk in English so well, but not say meh name proper?"

"Oh. Well…I believe that would be due to the translators," Minamino brushed back his hair from his right ear, and dangling there was a glass earring. The bobble at the end of it glowed faintly with red light. "It gives us a perfect ability to speak whatever language we please, but it does not translate names. Therefore, we have no assistance when we pronounce them," He let his hair fall back.

Hagrid looked at the ears of the other two boys; indeed, there was an identical bobble, shining the same color as the redhead's. "Oh. Yeah. Might I ask somethin' else?"

"Again."

"Why d' yeh call each oth'r by yer last names, but yeh call me by meh firs'?"

Minamino narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion, before hitting himself lightly on the forehead with the heel of his hand. "I am sorry. We do things so much differently in Japan. You see, we say our surnames first, and our personal, or given names last. So, in English, our names are actually 'Shuichi Minamino', 'Yusuke Urameshi', and 'Hiei Jaganshi'. The reason I called you by your first name is because I _thought_ it was your surname; the reason I wanted to call you by your surname is because since I do not know you well, I am formal with you. "San" is an honorific, and basically translates to the English 'Mr.', 'Mrs.', or, 'Miss'. I know Yusuke and Hiei personally, though, and I am able to call them by their given name, with no honorific. Do you understand?"

"…Yeah, tha' makes sense…" There was another awkward pause, in which Yusuke sighed with boredom. "Well, we should get goin'. Here…Tom!" Hagrid called over to the barkeep, though as he had been eavesdropping at the group for the past few minutes, it was not needed. Tom hobbled over to them and Hagrid said to him, "Could yeh show th' boys their rooms, please?"

"Of course," he answered, and then beckoned to the three, who followed him up the inn's stairs without quarrel.

_It's gonna' be a long day_…

Yusuke's ecstatic reaction to the hop-scotch-playing rats on the counter distracted Kurama only minimally as he gave the witch behind the cash register some wizard gold; they were buying an owl, a barn owl, that would serve to carry repots about the status of their mission to and from Koenma. Though it was somewhat expensive, the creature would pay for itself tenfold in a month.

As he carried the owl outside the pet shop, where the half-giant Hagrid and Hiei stood, Yusuke began pestering him again; 'Hey, Kurama, what should we name it, eh? Maybe Puu, that would be _funny_, wouldn't it!'

'Yusuke, Youko says if you don't shut up about the magical animals already, he'll come out and force-feed you this bird until you suffocate.'

'Damn, tou-_chy_…'

"Sorry we took so long, Hayg-reed-san, Yusuke had to look at _everything_ in the shop."

"Well…" Yusuke muttered, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "The color-changing ferrets were kinda' cool…"

Hagrid chuckled. "I see yeh got an owl. Yeh made a good choice – bloody useful creatures, _I _say."

Kurama smiled politely in reply. "We think it _will_ be useful, having a private owl to communicate with our friends and relatives."

Hiei snorted and Yusuke smirked devilishly then; Hagrid looked confused as Yusuke said in a sly tone, "Oh, yeah, I forgot – just can't be away from your beloved mum without having a fit, eh, Kurama?"

Kurama glared almost venomously. "You leave my Okaasan alone, Yusuke."

He did nothing but break into a vicious bout of laughter.

After stopping at Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlor by command of Hiei, who Kurama had to prevent from spending the entire remains of his wizard money, the group filed into the Leaky Caldron. Their arms were burdened with shopping bags and, in Hiei and Yusuke's case, large ice cream cones, while Kurama held onto the owl – which was newly dubbed, upon extensive discussion, "Kyo". Original, no?

"I'll be here t'morrow at 10-o'-clock sharp. Make sure yeh eat an' 'ave everythin' packed b'fore then. G'bye!"

"Goodbye, Hayg-reed-san."

"Ja ne, Hayg-reed!"

Hiei stayed silent as he watched the large man walk out.

'Stupid oaf.'

'Now, now, Hiei – why must you say that about _everyone_?' Kurama complained as the three of them set off to their rooms.

'Because it's true.'

'Don't tell me you think _I'm _stupid.'

'Heh…' He sneered away from him, and Yusuke laughed.

_Tell the cheeky little bastard I will literally_ whip his ass _if he keeps that attitude with me._

_Why are you so short-tempered today? _

_We haven't met anyone pretty yet. The half-giant just about blinded me, and don't even make me_ start _with the innkeeper_…disgusting…

'Let's just get some rest. Youko's being particularly abominable today.'

_What's that supposed to mean? _

_I implore you to guess. _

_You want a headache? _There was a sudden spasm of pain in the back of Kurama's head.

_Oh_ _Inari_…

Harry and Ron were just finishing throwing their things slap-dash into their trunks, when Mrs. Weasley sprinted into Ron's room and urged them to hurry even more.

For once again, all in the Burrow was late for the Hogwarts Express.

Not unusual.

Piling into the ministry van, provided primarily for the safety of a certain Harry Potter, was a quick effort. While the way the auror driver meandered through traffic _was _time-efficient, it didn't seem to be enough. But they got to the train station with several minutes to spare. They hurried through the barrier and threw their things onto the train. Goodbyes were short, but Mrs. Weasley managed to trap everyone in her bone-breaking grip twice.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny relaxed when finally they were safely on the train. Ron and Hermione left for the Prefects Compartment, Ron going rather gloomily, leaving Harry and Ginny to find a compartment themselves. They sifted through the near entirety of the train, and while they _did_ find Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, they were seated with a crowd of Ravenclaws, so that there wasn't any room. The two left with them when Harry and Ginny decided to move on instead of squishing together with the others; the other Ravenclaws practically gave Luna away.

"This one had better be fair empty!" Ginny growled when they slid shut a door full of second year Hufflepuffs and continued on to the very last compartment.

Harry laughed at her sullen attitude as she pushed back this door, without knocking – as it opened, Neville gasped.

Inside there were three people, two boys and a girl. The first boy looked to be starting in his first year, with spiky hair and an Asian look to him. He wore weird clothing, and the way he slept (closest to the window) made it look like he was either vexed with it or claustrophobic – his knuckles were white as they gripped the sleeves, like he wished to rip them off.

The second boy, who looked to be at least eighteen, also lay asleep on the seat to the left of the first; he looked more normal than the other, though underneath his sweatshirt his jeans looked like they came up a lot higher than usual. Like the younger boy, he looked Asian, and his hair was slicked back so that it _would_ have reminded Harry of Draco Malfoy, if it hadn't been jet-black, like his own.

The girl, sleeping opposite the older boy, was confusing. She _looked_ like a girl, but only in the face, which the long red hair half-covered anyway. The body looked somewhat masculine, underneath the strangest clothing of all – for example, the shirt had a very wide collar. But the clothes themselves didn't seem like the kind of attire normally worn by guys. Nor did it seem normally worn by an Englishmen, girl or not.

So, guessing at this point, it had to have been a girl – due to the shirt and the hair. It seemed no boy in his right mind would have that long of hair by choice, nor wear that kind of shirt.

Neville seemed to have decided this also. He was staring at the girl in wonder, a slight blush on his cheeks. Harry smirked first at Neville, who didn't see him, then at Ginny, who was looking from Neville to Harry. She grinned back.

The girl sighed and rolled over – over being off of the seat where she laid. She landed with a thump and a yelp, afterwards releasing a violent, foreign word that had to have been a curse. The voice was a deep one, deeper than the voice of a girl. And as the redhead sat up, the scowl that made up her – _his_ – face was definitely that of a male.

There went that theory.

Looking back to Neville, it seemed he saw this too – his hand covered his mouth as his face turned from light pink to rose.

About then, the boy sat up from his newly found place on the ground and turned his green eyes to look at the three in the doorway. His angry mask switched from light surprise to apologetic. He said something quietly in an alien language, ending by placing his index finger to his lips.

Luna nodded in grave understanding.

He stood up and began shuffling around in one of the three duffle bags on the overhead rack, without talking, finally pulling out a plain wooden box.

Harry, Ginny, and Neville then looked at each other strangely as the foreigner extracted a glass, dangling earring from the padded inside and began to insert it. Ginny mouthed, "Gender crisis" to Harry, who stifled a spree of laughter as Luna gave him an uncharacteristically stern look and also put her fingers to her lips.

The redhead shut the box with a smart snap and placed it atop the bag he had found it in. Then he walked over to where the four stood, smiled politely, and held back his hair from the earring, leaning towards them. He whispered something in Japanese again and tapped his earlobe.

"Er…" Began Neville, taking a step back, his blush furthering.

Luna took over for him, leaning over to whisper in the redhead's ear, "It is very nice to meet you."

Harry had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing, but the boy merely smiled wider and whispered something back. Luna pulled away with a satisfied smile as the end glass bead suddenly burst with ruby-colored light before settling into a subtle burn.

"Thank you, Miss. I see you can understand some Japanese," He nodded in recognition to Luna before turning to the other three, "I am one of the new students from Japan, and as I cannot speak English, this is my translator. But before it can activate, the language I wish to speak must be said onto it – and it resets itself whenever I take it out," He looked singularly at Ginny and smirked. "And in Japan, this kind of attire is quite commonly worn by teenage boys. It is not a social anomaly."

Suddenly, a long peel of annoyed whining rambled off in Japanese, saving Ginny from having to reply. The taller of the remaining boys sat up and yawned. He looked over at the group in the doorway and grinned when he saw Harry. He laughed something in the same language and stood up, springing for the box from which the redhead had gotten his "translator".

Once his earring was in, he turned to the other, and the redhead said into the bobble, "As you can see, we have visitors," The earring gleamed red and he continued, "Shall we introduce ourselves?"

"Sure!" His grin was infectious. "'Name's Yusuke Urameshi, but you can call me Yusuke, 'coz honorifics are stupid," The redhead gave Yusuke a look, "The short guy _pretending_ to be asleep is called Hiei, and he won't care what you call him, so just call him that. Now, Fox-Boy here is Shuichi Minamino, but we all call him Kurama," Yusuke wrapped an arm playfully around the boy's neck and squeezed in a familiar manner that made the other roll his eyes.

"However, _I_ would prefer if you were to call me Minamino-san. It's just what I'm used to, I'm afraid. Kurama is an acquired name, and since my friends in Japan address me that way, I suppose that if we were to become more acquainted I would allow you to call me such. But for now, if you don't mind…"

"Not-not at all," Neville muttered, still blushing.

The answering smile Minamino gave him made it fester into a deeper of magenta. "Thank you for your flexibility. Would the four of you like to sit with us, or were you just looking in?"

Luna agreed enthusiastically.

Ginny shrugged at Harry and he said, "Sure, Neville?" Neville stared with evident horror back. "Er…don't you want to sit with the foreign students…?"

"Sure…" He finally muttered, his eyes still avoiding Minamino.

"Great!" Minamino then spoke to the smallest boy as Harry, Ginny, and Neville shut the door, "Hiei! Stop being rude and join us."

"Hiei" didn't even twitch.

The redhead was not fazed by this, and sat down beside him, next to the boy's feet – it appeared to be normal behavior.

Once the four had placed their remaining bags atop the overhead compartment, they took places; Luna sat next to Hiei's head, Harry and Ginny next to Yusuke, and, with nowhere else to go, Neville sat on the remaining side of Minamino. After everyone was settled, Minamino said conversationally to Neville, "So, what are _your_ names, please? It would be nice to know them for future reference."

"I-I'm Neville. Longbottom. Er, Neville Longbottom." There was a pause before Yusuke and Minamino burst into chuckling yet again.

"Ah," Minamino started, smirking again, "Would you mind if we called you by your personal name instead? I think it would be less embarrassing for you."

Neville nodded mutely.

"Good. Could you say your name again?"

"Neville."

"Nay-vou-san, then," He winced, frowning.

Yusuke tried, "Nayv-eel," He made a face, "Damn translators aren't worth crap. Sorry, these things," He flicked his earring, "only translate actual words. Like, we can say your surname fine, _Longbottom_," He smirked, "but only because that's technically a word…words. We can't say _real _names, though. It sucks."

"That's alright. We don't mind," Luna replied. She sounded fascinated. "How about mine; I'm Luna Lovegood, by the way."

Kurama nodded. "Luna Lovegood-san. Very nice, both of your names are words. That makes it much easier."

Yusuke interjected then, "What word is '_Luna'_?"

"In alchemy, Luna is the name for silver; in Greek Mythology, it is the goddess of the moon."

"Oh…"

Ginny grinned, "Okay, try mine – Ginny Weasley."

"Gin-ny Wee-sodee-san," Minamino frowned again. "I've never really cared before, but not having an 'L' in one's alphabet is somewhat frustrating."

"_Wee­_-_see_… Dammit!" Yusuke growled, "I sound stupid."

"You _are_ stupid, Detective. Weasley, Weasley, Weasley," Replied the boy, who was supposed to be Hiei, without opening his eyes.

"_How'd you do that_?"

"If you just practice making the 'L' sound, it's fairly easy. I'm surprised the Fox hasn't figured it out yet."

"Detective? Fox?" Ginny again interjected, looking between the three Japanese.

They shared a minute glance before Minamino murmured, "Pet names." He was kicked by a disgruntled Hiei, whose eyes were open now. Yusuke yet again laughed.

"Don't you want to know his name before you go off killing each other?" Ginny giggled, pointing her thumb at Harry. He was surprised when Yusuke shook his head, and Hiei rolled his eyes.

"Wee-sodee-san, we already know who Potter-san is. Your personal name is Hay-ry, am I correct?"

Harry felt the grin slide off of his face and he self-consciously flattened his bangs to his forehead. "Yeah."

"We didn't know by your scar, Idiot. We knew by your face. So unless you're planning on growing out your bangs to match Kurama's…"

"Hiei!"

"Don't cuff me, Fox—!"

"Don't be impolite to the foreigners!" Harry flushed at Hiei's remark, anyway.

The compartment door slid open about that time, to reveal a plump witch pushing a silver cart loaded with candy and junk food. Hiei immediately stopped quarreling with Minamino and, before the woman could speak, said, "I'll take everything."

The witch looked startled for a moment, and then hurriedly began doing sums.

Kurama, about twenty minutes after barring Hiei from buying the three of them broke on sweets, absent-mindedly was "listening" to Neville rattling off to the left of him; during to squabble they'd somehow gotten turned around.

Distracted by a sudden squeal of mirth somewhere else on the train, he turned his head slightly from Neville's face. Neville, who had been talking to him about something insipid and therefore the cause of his disinterest, stopped in mid-sentence when he looked away.

"Minamino-san? Is something wrong?"

_Of course not, Kit-chan; ignore Shuichi and continue, he's not worthy of the attention you so readily turn on him. _

_Excuse me_?

_What? Don't you think the child's cute? Look at it, he's still fat. Pudgy. Whatever one calls it. _

"Uh, Minamino-san? Are you all right? You're starting to look a bit sick…"

"Ah, pardon me, Nay-vou-san, I'm quite fine. Please, go on."

"Oh, thanks. Any…"

What of all Inari's tails is wrong with you?

_Whatever do you mean? _

_Don't feign innocents at me! _

_No really, what are you so vexed about? _

_Why _Neville_? He might as well be one of the _only_ sixth-years at Hogwarts whom you could mentally incapacitate by_ _harassing! Considering you found your way out! _

_Shuichi, Shuichi, let's not use that word – it's _teasing_. And besides, that's what makes kit-chan so endearing. I do enjoy the quiet ones; they're so much fun_…_I once made a demon faint, you know. Right over the rail of a boat, and I didn't even touch him_. _It was hilarious. _

Kurama fumed.

"…and are you _sure_ you're all right, Minamino-san?"

"Of course, don't worry, keep talking."

_Just give me a distraction_…

_Whatever from, _Shuichi?

_Ugh. _

"Oi, Harry! Where…_who are you_?"

"Ron! Don't be _rude_!" As Kurama turned around in his seat, he saw two people in the now-opened doorway of the compartment. One was a girl, already in the boarding school's uniform, with wavy, nearly curly, brown hair. The one who had spoken was a boy, also in uniform, with a shock of red hair closely resembling Ginny's and a saddle of freckles across his nose. Both had a badge pinned to the front of their robes that read "Prefect" on it with a rearing lion in its background.

The rest, Harry and Ginny from their conversation with Yusuke, Luna from her one-sided discussion about some magazine to Hiei, and then of course Neville, stopped speaking and turned round; Hiei didn't bother looking from out the window.

_Shuichi, am I turning senile, or is "Prefect" a mere misspelling of "Perfect"? _

_You're turning senile._

Kurama gave his polite smile to the girl and Ron, both who were staring at him suspiciously – though, the girl controlled her curiosity much better than Ron.

Partly because the look was harder to pick out on the girl's face; mostly because, before anyone in the compartment could say much more, Ron burst out, "Are you a girl or a boy?"

_Tell the Kit to go shove it up his_

But Kurama couldn't have told the now less-than-appreciated boy Youko's thoughts even if he had wanted, because Yusuke and _Hiei_ were now roaring with laughter.

Really, Hiei wasn't nearly as boisterous as Yusuke, who just about scared the hell out of Neville, but it was enough so that the entire compartment looked at him strangely – it was a bit obvious upon first meeting him that Hiei wasn't one to laugh. At all.

"_Well_, boy, you take the prize – I've heard every sort of tease about the gender of the Fox, but _none_ so blunt as you, let alone to his _face_! Humiliating!" Then he chuckled darkly again.

Yusuke laughed harder.

"Hiei," Kurama's voice came out with more growl than he would have liked, "Stop mocking him. And me.

"By the way, I am a _boy_."

_If you aren't going to run him through, then allow _me.

_A simple remark ruins your whole mood, doesn't it? _

_After not seeing the light for day for several months, it gets to your self-esteem. Especially if you're a millennia old, you snobby green _brat.

_Stop fussing; you know_ _you don't look a day over twenty. Literally. _

Youko finally fell silent on that matter, and Kurama felt obliged to listen as Ginny finished introductions, "…and that's Hiei, who apparently doesn't care what you call him. Right, Minamino-san?"

"Yes, it would be alright if you called him that. He's pretty lenient with honorifics."

"Interesting," This was the brown-haired girl speaking. "Well, would you mind if we joined you?"

"Oh, not at all. We could squeeze you in – you _are_ friends of Potter-san, Wee-sodee-san, Lovegood-san, and Nay-vou-san, after all. It would be rude, otherwise," He gave the two his most polite smile, and that seemed to appease them; they took seats, Ron, with his ears a violent red, eyes averted from Kurama, by Harry, and the girl next to himself. She still looked curious.

'_Hiei? What's the new girl's name?_'

'_Hermione Granger. Weren't you _listening'

'_Arguing with Youko, actually. Thanks._'

'_Whatever._'

"…here?"

"Hmm? Could you repeat that, Graynger-san?"

"Erm…" She looked at him strangely. "I said, I was just wondering why you're here? I mean, I know that Magical Japan and Magical England haven't been communicating for three hundred-plus years, so I would think the Japanese wouldn't want anything to do with us."

"I believe that was a lot more than what you previously said, Graynger-san."

"Oh!" Her face turned pink. "I'm sorry, I—,"

Kurama faked a laugh, "Don't worry about it, I was only teasing you. But no, we harbor no ill feelings towards the English. After all, the disagreement was with the two Ministers, not ourselves."

"Yes…" Hermione bit her lip. "That brings me to my next question. Why do the Japanese believe that demons continue to exist?"

"Because they do, Graynger-san. I know a few myself."

Her eyes narrowed slightly and she bit the inside of her cheek – she didn't trust him. "Really?"

"Yes. Actually, I've had one on my mind for quite some time, now," Why not; he hadn't had any fun yet on this mission, he might as well… "He's a silver kitsune; a fox demon," He elaborated at her blank expression. "He _is_ very hansom, I suppose—" Youko made a sort of purring noise, "—but he's also an obnoxious, violent, vain, lewd person who has a tenancy to steal."

_You have those traits as well, Shuichi; I _am_you,_ He growled, and Kurama felt another throb somewhere in his brain. He felt he was getting a headache.

Hermione's eyes widened at the word "lewd" and she mouthed it back to him. Kurama nodded in a pitying sort of way.

He sighed and shook his head, hamming it up just a bit, "Yet what can you do? He's extremely valuable to Japan, thus we simply have to put up with him. Though I wish our Minister could manage him better."

_And how would you go about _that? Maim_ me? _

_There's an idea. _

"So…_why_ have you been thinking of him?" She was staring at Kurama suspiciously, almost...disgustedly.

Youko was laughing now.

"Well, you see…I saw a fox out the window not too long ago, and it reminded me of him…a conversation we shared, once."

"Pardon me for saying so, but I don't think you would have been able to see one clearly at the speed the train is now."

_Hah. The wench is clever._ And he laughed again.

"I believe it was right after the train pulled out of the station. The train was slower, then."

"Oh. Right." Hermione looked away, her eyes narrowed in contemplating.

_The girl is interesting_…

_Don't tell me you want to "tease" her, too? _

_Maybe. She's not as cute as Neville-chan, though -- she's louder. I don't believe she'd faint. _

_Be quiet, I wish to ask question. Pedophile._

What

"Graynger-san? Why do the English _not_ believe that demons exist?"

"Because they have all been exorcised from Europe."

"So?"

"Erm…"

"So don't you think the demons could have merely moved elsewhere?"

"And never _left_?"

"What if they were being prevented from leaving? Or, what if they havecome back, but you are simply unaware?"

"…What are you implying?"

"Nothing at all," Hermione stared at him, the wariness in her eyes much more vibrant now.

Youko began to chuckle.

_What are you finding so entertaining? _

_She doesn't trust us. The look on her face is affable. _

…_How do you find that affable? _

_One would think you'd know me better in the twenty years you've lived. You see— _

_No, never mind, I don't want to know. _

_Feh. Actually, I think I _will_ add her with Neville. _

…_You're starting a _collection

_You sound incredulous. _

_That's disgusting. _

_I used to do it in Japan, too. I simply never mentioned it to you. _

…_How in the world did you do that? _

_I've found ways_…_Genkai was one of my favorites. _

_Pardon?_

_She somewhat reminds me of Yomi when he hadn't a stick up his ass. _

_You'd better hope she never hears that. _

"…the matter, Minamino-san? You're frowning."

"Oh, nothing, Graynger-san. Just thinking."

_I dare her to say, "Penny for your thoughts". _

_You would get rid of me so easily? _

_Yes. Though, I certainly don't price you at a penny. But I'm not concerned about cheating Hermione at the moment. _

"Er, Minamino-san? Are you done talking to Hermione?"

_Oh yes, Kit-chan, go ahead. Your trivial thoughts are quite entertaining. _

_Pedophile. _

Ignoring the snarl he received, Kurama replied, "Yes. Would you like to continue?"

"Oh, sure…"

"Firs' years! Firs' years, 'dis way, 'ere, FIRS' YEARS!" Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke pushed through the throng of people towards the bulbous figure of Hagrid, each carrying a duffle bag and towing a newly acquired trunk.

Once they reached him, Kurama shouted over the din of the other students, "Hayg-reed-san! Are we to ride in the horse-drawn carriages or follow the first years in the boats?"

"Oi! Shuichi! It's nice ter be seein' ya' again!" And Hagrid did look genuinely pleased, quite unlike the exasperated half-giant that had left them at Kings Crossing that morning. He seemed to be the type of person who only needed a few hours to recuperate from an afternoon with Yusuke and Hiei.

_Perhaps not_… Youko mused as Hagrid's face suddenly fell.

"Wait, what did yeh' say?"

"I _said_, do we ride in the horse-drawn carriages, or follow the first years in the boats?"

"Yeh' can _see_ the thestrals?" He sounded alarmed.

"What? Are they a _secret_?" Hiei scowled up at Hagrid as he said this.

"Er, no, 'course not…never mind… No, yer' ter' go wit' the firs' years, sos you'll leave yer' things 'ere. I think yeh' 'ought t' go one to a boat fer you three…er, 'sept Hiei. He can share wit' one o' you two, or one o' th' firs' years."

Kurama thanked Hagrid as they walked away, trying not to be distracted by Yusuke, who was teasing Hiei about his height.

They all made it across the lake in one piece, mainly because Kurama made Hiei ride with him in his boat – the temptation to tip Yusuke into the lake water, which was supposedly inhabited by a giant squid, was too great to leave them alone together.

After the boats dramatically arrived on shore before an ample medieval castle, the demons, Hagrid, and the first years trouped up to be received by a large party of patrol aurors (whom had been placed there by the ministry, to help counter any attacks made on Hogwarts students) and a stern woman with her hair pulled back in a tight bun, dressed in jade wizard's robes and hat. She observed the length of Kurama's hair with half-hidden disapprove through her spectacles when the group arrived before her.

'Beware, Detective. She looks like Genkai.'

Yusuke shuddered at the thought.

From there, Hagrid left them to the hawkish woman, who was called Professor McGonagall; she led them through the towering castle doors, into a grand front room. She stopped the group before a second pair of enormous doors, behind which a low buzzing came – though, to Hiei, Yusuke, and Kurama, it was the random chatter of child and adolescent voices.

"Behind these doors is the Great Hall, where you will take your meals. It is where you shall be sorted to one of the four houses, which are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Once sorted, the house shall be like your family; you will eat, sleep, and take classes together. If you accomplish something of value, you and your house shall be rewarded with points; if you disobey or misbehave, you and your house will be docked points. At the end of the year there is an award to the house with the most points.

"I will call roll now, answer when I say your name. Ambry, Jennifer…"

'Hey, Kurama?'

'Mmm?'

'Which ones are the houses again?'

Kurama pondered what Yusuke meant for a moment before answering, "Gryffindor is brave but stupid, Hufflepuff is kind but naive, Ravenclaw is smart but snobby, and Slytherin is evil.'

'Oh, yeah. Thanks.'

'_Feh. Where did you hear _that_, Fox?_'

'_I didn't. I just put it in terms I thought he would understand._'

Hiei chuckled.

'What, Hiei?'

'Nothing.'

"Jayg-awn-shy, Hy-ee-y." There was no answer. "Jayg-awn-shy, Hy-ee-y?" Again, no answer. "Is there a Jayg-awn-shy, Hy-ee-y in this room?"

"It is pronounced 'Jaganshi, Hiei', ma'am. And yes, he is here, but he's just a little _shy_…" Kurama winced as Hiei stomped quietly onto his foot.

"Very well, then," Professor McGonagall readjusted her glasses and continued, "Jenkins, Sophie…"

'You stupid Fox!'

'I don't understand why you're cross at me, Hiei.'

'I'm _shy_? Where the _Hell--_?'

'Oh calm down, Hiei, you're scaring the children.'

"Myna-myno, Shu-y-uchy…?"

"It's 'Minamino, Shuichi', ma'am. I am here."

"Oh, thank you…"

'When have _you_ cared about children?'

'Ever since Youko turned into a pedophile.'

_Now, don't tell them that, they'll take it seriously. _

WHAT?'

'_Detective_,you_ idiot--_!'

"_Please keep quiet while I am taking attendance_," McGonagall glared at Yusuke, easily picking him out, as he stood nearly a foot above the younger students.

"Right. Sorry," After she had continued through the list, Yusuke hissed at Kurama, 'He's a _pedophile_?"

_You'd better tell them you were joking_…

'Yes, it seems he's taken a liking to a few of the students already…it's rather disturbing.'

Shuichi…

'Really? _Ew_!'

Hiei was staring at Kurama incredulously.

'Who is it he likes?'

'Graynger-san and Nay-vou-san.'

'_Nay-veel-san_!'

'Yes,' Kurama winced three times in procession, afterwards bringing his hand up to massage his temples. 'Ow. Damn.'

'What?'

'Youko's found a way to give me headaches.'

"Urameshi, Yu-suk-ee."

"Er, it's 'Urameshi, _Yusuke'_. But oi, you did better on the 'I' part!" McGonagall gave Yusuke a stern look, and he mumbled, shoving his hands into his robe's pockets, "_Here_."

"Thank you, Mr. Urameshi. Now that roll is complete, I must check with the Headmaster. When I come back, we will commence with the sorting. Don't do anything _rash_ while I am gone," She looked at Yusuke again before leaving.

'God. Bitch.'

Kurama heard a sneeze on the other side of the doors. He had strong suspicions it belonged to McGonagall.

Almost as soon as the Professor had left, the first years began to whisper about the sorting.

"I hear we have to battle a mother _occamy_!"

"No, you stupid, occamies are dangerous!"

"My brother told me we have to answer a riddle told by a sphinx, and if we're wrong we'll have to become squibs!"

"Oh no, I can't do riddles--!"

'…Kurama?'

'An occamy is a large winged serpent, which can become extremely aggressive when it or its eggs are threatened. A sphinx is a creature with the head of a person and the body of a lion, renowned for its ability to speak, primarily in riddles. It may also become fearsomely aggressive, though mostly when guarding treasure. A squib is a wizard who is condemned from or cannot effectively use magic.'

'Oh. So, er, what do we actually have to do?'

'Psh. We get sorted into a house by a fucking hat. It sits on our heads, goes through our brains, nothing more.'

'…Oh. Damn, I thought this was going to be interesting,' He pouted.

'Hiei, what do you mean by, 'goes through our heads'?'

'Yeah. That might be a problem. But I doubt it could beak through our mind barriers. It's not used to dealing with them.'

'Good.'

"Hey, Ma'am…" Kurama felt a pull on the sleeve of his robes. He looked down to see one of the first years, a blond little boy, who was gazing up at him with wide, blue eyes.

_I hate children._

_So do I. But _no_, I'm a _pedophile_ now. _Inari_ Shuichi, you _bastard…

_I though you_…

_They're _adolescent_ kits -- _fun_ to tease. Not new-borns, like _these…

"I'm a boy."

The child immediately fled from his side.

'_Now_ who's scaring the children?'

'Shut up.'

"Are you the foreigners from Japan?" The three turned to see a braver child, a girl with short, brown hair, staring determinedly up at them.

"Yes, actually. How did you know?"

"You all look _weird _and _old_."

"Well, yes…" Kurama frowned and stepped on Yusuke's foot as he elbowed him in the side, snickering, "But how did you know that there would be new students?"

"Haven't you been reading the _Daily Prophet_?"

"I have never heard of it, actually. Have we been mentioned in there?"

"You've been talked 'bout in just 'bout every paper, Mister."

"Oh. How…_interesting_."

'_Interesting_, Fox?'

'I thought unnerving would make a bad first impression.'

'Hah! I'll agree to that!'

'Hn.'

"Whasure names?"

"_Excuse_ me?"

"Single-file everyone. We are ready for you." Yusuke frowned as McGonagall entered back into the hall. He grudgingly got inline between Hiei and a first year who was chewing on his fingernails.

The Great Hall disserved its name; it was very elegant, much like the rest of the castle, alit by thousands of floating candles. There seemed to be no actual ceiling, for the walls faded into the night sky that lay outside the castle. There were five tables in all; four parallel to each other, two facing long-ways on either side of where the group now tromped. They sat the students of the school. The remaining one was horizontal to the other four, placed before them. It was smaller in size and seated the staff; Kurama could see Hagrid waving to someone at the Gryffindor table as they walked.

In front of the staff table there was a stool; atop the stool was a ratty old wizard's hat, torn in several places with a cut at the brim. To Hiei's disgust, he could catch the potent smell of human on it.

When the long line of first years, and new students, stopped, they were all a few meters from the sorting hat. Kurama began to tap his foot, annoyed, after a few silent moments, when he noticed the humans were watching the hat – expectantly.

_Mmm_…

_Why are we watching? Is it going to tap-dance or something?_ But as if to prove Youko's point, the tear in the brim of the hat widened, opened, and the thing began to recite:

"_Oh happy were the days of yore  
__When things were simple and sweet;  
__Except the nasty nightmares that lore  
__Tells us are now extinct.  
__We fought gallantly to rid our homes  
__Of the creatures that lived in drones,  
__I speak of course of the demon spore;  
__Once were here, but nevermore.  
__Now those days are gone and done  
__But still we no longer live in peace  
__For another evil has come,  
__And it has yet to cease,  
__Try as we might,  
__As hard as we fight,  
__He grows stronger every day.  
__And the newest rumors tend to say;  
__The dead, the impossible  
__Has again become anew.  
__And our logic lay askew.  
__Yes, it seems that You-Know-Who  
__Has found the monsters we though we'd slew.  
__You say this must be false,  
__That the danger is sparse  
__Yet haven't we said this before?  
__Who can really tell what is truth  
__Or what the future has in store,  
__But know that there are those  
__Who will rise beyond the foes  
__Who will join with the pervious,  
__Who may seem mischievous,  
__But toward good are inclined.  
__So until that time,  
__Be strong,  
__Be benign,  
__Be sure to intertwine with your peers;  
__Let no man or child be in fear;  
__And let the new year premier. _

Kurama, whom had tensed ever since the hat had first mentioned demons, relaxed when he saw that the as the students clapped, they were staring at Harry; obviously, the poem had been misinterpreted.

'_We're still safe._'

'_Good. I don't want the grubby humans on our backs already. Though, I might have to have a little _chat_ with that **damned** hat_…'

'_Really. I wonder_…_do you think it's psychic?_'

'_How could a _hat_ be psychic, Kurama?_'

'_Wow. The Detective asked something relevant for once._'

'What's _that_ supposed to—?'

At that moment, McGonagall turned meaningfully to the group and called out over the semi-quiet room; "We will commence with the sorting. I will call the names of the first years to start, then the transfer students. Ambry, Jennifer."

The strong-minded little girl tromped up to sit on the stool; McGonagall plopped the hat on her head, and it covered her face completely. After a few seconds of pondering, the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

'No surprise there…'

'Heh, really! She was gnawing your throat out, Kurama!'

'Hn. What house should we be in?"

'Gryffindor or Hufflepuff would probably be the least suspicious – practically no dark wizards, let alone demons, have been in those.'

'Why don't we just let it sort us?'

'_Because_, Idiot, to sort us, it has to sift through our emotions, thoughts, and memories – which, even if we _are_ supposed to save the wizards' asses, probably wouldn't sit well with it. _Especially_ Kurama and I.'

'Oh…right. So, er, Gryffindor or Hufflepuff?'

'Yes. Try for those – ask to be put into one of them. If it doesn't let you pass with that, give it some clean memories that would fit in either of categories.'

'Right. But…what about Hiei?'

'I'll manage. I'll hypnotize the thing if I have to.'

'Er…'

'_Only_ as a last resort, Hiei.'

'…_Fine_.'

The rest of the first year's sorting continued without incident. When finally only Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei were left standing before the hat and stool, McGonagall cleared her throat and said in a slow voice, "Jaganshi, Hiei."

And, sulkily, he walked up to sit on the stool.

* * *

**Footnotes: **

**"His hair was very spiky, and his eyes, like Urameshi's, were dark brown."; Obviously, normal people don't go tromping around with red eyes – therefore, Koenma had a concealment spell put on them.  
****That's right.  
****Yeah. **

**His clothing looked as the other two's, though entirely black, but he still he held himself in a way that made one think he was uncomfortable in the garbs."; My theory: Hiei doesn't wear human clothing, therefore Hiei isn't used to human clothing, therefore Hiei is uncomfortable in human clothing. ****  
And he hates humans, which just takes the yo-gashi, ya' know?**

**"Oh Inari"; You remember about the 'botany' gag? Yeah. Three birds, now.  
****If you people are as avid YYH fan-fiction lovers as I suspect you are, then you should know exactly what "Inari" means.  
****But just to review you – Inari is a Japanese deity whose animals / messengers are foxes with multiple tails and magical powers, or kitsune. Correct me if I'm wrong. **

**"_What? Don't you think the child's cute? I find him very endearing_."; I always imagined Neville to be a bit of a pudgy boy when he was younger, who lost his baby fat when he grew older.  
****And cute, in a weird sort of way.  
****I don't know why.  
****Maybe I just need one of those "I Love Nerds" badges, or something.  
****But that's how I imagined it.  
****Plus, I decided long ago, that if I ever exposed the Boys to Hogwarts, then I would have a _lot_ of fun having Youko flirt with / scare Neville. You know you would, too.  
****So neh. **

**Whee . . .**


	3. In which Ron makes an Assumption

**Key:  
"Talking – English in an English setting / Japanese in a Japanese setting; Japanese heard by a person who speaks only English and visa-versa."  
'Talking – Any other language than the "text in the quotation mars."'  
****_'Telekinesis'  
__Thinking_ **

**In response to what you're about to witness, I didn't want to do it, but the Divine Ways of Logic made me.  
Alright, so picture it; at the end of the second chapter, I'm deciding how the crap to sort them ("them" being "the Boys"). And it didn't seem proper to _just_ let them be sorted (in which we would have Hiei to Slytherin, Yusuke to Gryffindor, and Kurama to Ravenclaw, very messy and all-over the place) because, well…let's say the Hat's psychic (like it seems to be in the books), it sees that, _supposedly_, there are to be demons coming to "save the world". It probably wouldn't guess that the majority of the demons coming are just about as, if not worse than, any regular demon.  
****So it'd prolly freak out if it went through their minds, especially Hiei…God, it'd effing _die_ if it went through Hiei's mind.  
****Therefore, I'd have to make them forage memories or something so they could get in relatively the same house without being exposed.  
****Then, because of a brain overload, I decided to screw around; and thus doodled at my desk a stick-person-Hiei being sorted by the Sorting Hat. In the mini-"comic", the hat flops off his head upon searching through his brain, and screams, "SLYTHERIN!" when it lands on the floor.  
****Well I thought this was so gosh darned funny that, despite the Divine Ways of Logic, I would've had the Boys legitimately sorted, and the Hat flop off Hiei's head.  
****But then Logic got all pissy and, half-way to the keyboard, slapped my hands with, '_Oh Lanie-chan, why the hell would Hiei, with the use of the Jagan Eye, let a _hat_ inside his head?!_'  
****And so I resumed sulking.  
****And, inevitably, screwing around.  
****So then I began to think of how I kept pounding Youko with the "pedophile" gag.  
****'_Damn, he better get Shuichi-Kurama back soon, or it's not going to be very __realistic_…'**

**Rated T for Teen

* * *

****Chpt. 3**  
**In which Hermione nests in the Library, Kurama gets Screwed Over by Youko, and Ron makes an Excellent (though not necessarily _Accurate_) Assumption**

The hat seemed to be having trouble with Hiei, Hermione noted curiously. The small boy had been sitting there for several long minutes, without any luck, when she was _sure_ he would be in Slytherin.

She thoughts were dashed, however, when the sorting hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!" and Hiei walked sullenly over to their table, though idling at the fringe of the bench instead of actually taking a seat.

Of course she clapped along with the rest of the students, though rather embarrassedly on her part; Gryffindor and Slytherin were practically exact opposites…

"Minamino, Shuichi," There went the redheaded boy. He had to be in Ravenclaw, she decided finally as he sat down and the sorting hat was placed atop his head – he had sounded very intelligent and polite when she had spoken with him.

Several more long minutes ensued. Then, to Hermione's immense surprise, the hat _flopped off his head_ with a strangled yelp and spat out, "_SLYTHERIN_!"

McGonagall hurriedly scooped up the hat from the floor and, akin to several other teachers and the entire, stark-silent student body, stared at Minamino with a look of unconcealed disbelief.

His round of clapping was…restrained.

From underneath his long bangs, the boy looked pale and annoyed; he wore the same small frown that he'd sometimes used when he had spoken with Neville – as if he were thinking very hard, and did not like it in the least.

"_Wow_, are you _serious_?" She heard Ron mutter behind her as Minamino walked away to the Slytherin table.

"I know," She whispered back, "He seemed so nice."

"Urameshi, Yusuke," Yusuke, the flippant one of the foreigners, tromped up to the stool and sat down. He was looking over at where Minamino sat, his expression confused, when the hat was dropped on his head.

It took much less time for the sorting hat to belt out, "GRIFFINDOR!" than it had the previous two times – _and_ it didn't dive off of his head…

When Yusuke joined their table, grinning at the hollers of some of the more hyped students, Hiei followed him. He glared and said something to the boy in what Hermione supposed was Japanese, as Yusuke attempted to take a seat next to Harry.

"What?"

Hiei continued, and Yusuke laughed.

"Just sit, you _baby_. _God_, don't make me get Mother Hen-Kurama over here to straighten you out from his place with the Snakes."

With a final scowl, Hiei sat on the other side of Yusuke and stared death at Lavender, Pavarti, and Dean, who all sat next to or in front of him, as if daring them to try conversation.

Dean talked to Yusuke over Hiei's head anyway; "Hi, I'm Dean Thomas. How d'you say your name again?"

"Yuse-kay."

"Oh. 'Kay, thanks. And, er, you're Hiei, right…?"

Hiei glared in confirmation.

"Yeah, um…what year are you in?"

"The same as you," He answered coldly, making Dean surprised. The boy continued, "And don't talk to me, Tome-as. I don't give a damn," He turned to glower at the plate in front of him.

"Just ignore Hiei, he's antisocial, and even if he _did_ talk to you, he'd prolly scare you. So, when're we going to eat?"

"Right after Dumbledore speaks," Harry, who sat across from Ron, answered him.

"Uh, okay…who's Dobbudor?"

"You don't _know_—?" But then, as if on cue, people were silencing around them, as Dumbledore had stood; he began with, beaming, "Welcome and welcome back to Hogwarts. It is wonderful to have you with us here again, and wonderful for the newer students to be joining us – young and foreign akin.

"As you can see, we have new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Rhone," Hermione glanced at the woman she had noticed when she'd entered – a young woman with large, thick-rimmed glasses and mud-brown hair. She still looked nervous as she clumsily stood. After the students were through clapping, Professor Rhone sat down and Dumbledore continued, "It is her very first time teaching, so I hope that you all will make her feel as welcome as I know you will your new peers.

"I would like to mention that Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to remind you that magic, as well as a large selection of items, are not permitted in the hallways – you may confirm which of these with Mr. Filch himself, in his office. Also, students are not permitted to enter the Forbidden Forest, as its name suggests. Please note that.

"Finally, quidditch tryouts will be held in October on the 15th.

"Now that all technicalities have been taken care of, I would like to leave you to your feast. Tuck in!"

"The tables aren't even…_holy cheese_!" Yusuke gaped at the food that had magically materialized while he had been listening to Dumbledore. He whistled. "_Damn_, you wizards sure know how t' do things round here!"

Everyone around Yusuke laughed a bit to themselves and began to take food onto their plate. Even Hermione chuckled, besides the coarse language, before spooning herself some potatoes; the foreigners had never seen this kind of thing before? It was the simplest of magic.

Yusuke grinned and began to do the same, but then stopped, frowning.

"What's all this stuff called? I don't recognize anything…" Hiei himself was looking about the table with a hint of disgust.

"If you scoot over, I'll show you."

The lot, even Seamus, looked up to see Minamino smirking at Yusuke. Lavender, sitting next to Hermione, dropped her fork, blushing.

"Smartass – no wonder _you_ know stuff about British food. _But_," Here Yusuke grinned, "aren't you supposed to sit with the Snakes?"

"I questioned Dome-al-dore-sensei himself, after his speech; he said it would be allowed, especially in these times, for one to sit at another house's table ever-so-often. Scoot over."

"_Itai_! _Okay_, Hiei, I'm _moving_, stop kicking me!"

"I only kicked you twice. Fool."

"_Still_…"

Minamino sat down in the space that Hiei had once occupied, effectively blocking Dean from contact with the small boy.

Hiei didn't look disappointed in the least.

Dean, however, stared open-mouthed at Minamino. Lavender hadn't picked up her fork, and Pavarti and Seamus were both glaring at him suspiciously. The remaining, having previously met him, just looked uncomfortable.

Minamino seemed to be, or was acting, oblivious to this. He looked over at Yusuke, still grinning slightly, and said, "To begin, everything is cooked, so…"

"_What_? No sushi?"

"Detective, do you _see_ any _sushi_? There aren't even _chopsticks_."

"Thank you, Hiei," Hermione was unable to tell if Minamino was scolding or appraising as he said this, "Anyway…" And he began to point out, with accuracy, all the foods before of them. Ron was nearly done with his first course when Kurama began to explain how to use silverware.

Ron was done with his second by the time Yusuke had sort-of figured out how to spear his peas; Hiei had picked up eating with a fork and spoon in altogether five minutes, though the only thing he seemed to like was steak.

By the end of dinner, Yusuke was still trying to eat his stuffing, when all the food disappeared off the plates. He threw down his fork with an audible _clang_ and growled through his teeth, "If I have to whittle chopsticks by tomorrow, I _swear_…_wow_!"

Yusuke's mood was severely improved by the array of dessert now laid before him.

Hiei himself looked surprisingly agreeable – the smirk he was wearing was _almost_ not malicious.

Minamino, however, looked slightly put-out.

"I suggest you hurry loading your plates; they'll clear the table in ten minutes, spoons or not."

Yet at the very end of the feast, when Dumbledore dismissed them, Yusuke was whining that he was still hungry. It was probably due to the surprising amount of control Minamino had over him – Yusuke had only finished three servings before the redhead somberly stabbed his hand with an unused fork as he tried to take more.

Despite his size, Hiei ate as much, if not more than, Yusuke – and he took the hint, simply glowering at Minamino instead of partaking more than his share.

Minamino eventually departed with a friendly wave and headed back to the Slytherin table; Hermione wondered if that was to be for the better, since she could see Draco Malfoy and a few of his friends glaring at the boy.

She turned back to their table. "Ron! Come on, stop eating, we need to get the first years upstairs!"

**lll**

I hate you.

_Yes, I know. But look on the bright side; _you're_ the benevolent Slytherin and _I'm _the pedophilic kitsune. What is it that the humans say? An eye for an eye? _

Kurama didn't answer him. He was more preoccupied with the gothic-styled Slytherin girls winking at him acros the Common Room.

**lll**

Morning came sooner than Hiei would have hoped.

Not that he'd slept in that human bed, let alone slept at all, but it wasn't as if he was looking forward to human school – magical or not.

In fact, being that the magic school was a _boarding_ school, it made it even worse, as he was expected to _dorm _with the humans – again, not that he had, but _they_ didn't need to know that…

Hiei was dressed his uncomfortable uniform, with his school bag, and out to the Great Hall to seek Kurama (who was, in his opinion, the only other sane being in the castle), before the other Gryffindors were even brushing their teeth.

Lazy creatures.

Once Hiei was free of the ugly, fat portrait of the human female, he ran at his top speed to arrive at the doors of the Great Hall in much less time than it would have taken him to walk – no one had seen him, their eyes weren't trained as Yusuke's or Kurama's.

And if anyone had watched him appear, well…didn't human wizards _do_ that?

He opened the doors onto a buzzing hall; the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables were mostly full.

_Pathetic. The Gryffindors are worse than normal humans. _

Hiei moved at a quick walk that wound him standing next Kurama – Kurama didn't look at him immediately, though, because while he _was_ sitting at his own table, a girl from the Ravenclaw house (he could tell by her uniform) was talking animatedly to him. She was Asian.

'Oh, Hiei! Guess who else is Japanese? This is Cho Chang-san, she is in Ravenclaw, seventh year.'

'It is very nice to meet you, Hiei-san,' She beamed at him.

'It is not _you_ with whom I wish to speak.' To his concealed delight, her smile slid off her face at his indifference.

'_Hiei_! Don't be rude!' Kurama turned back to Chang, his devastating smile on, and said, 'You shouldn't worry about Hiei. He doesn't play well with others.'

'Just like _you_ don't play well with _hats_, Fox.' Kurama, to his _increased_ delight, kept his smile in place only with some effort. There was warning in his eyes.

'Sure.'

"Oi! KURAMA, HIEI!" The three looked up to see Yusuke jogging toward them, ignoring the glares directed at him by the Slytherins. "Hiei, you bastard, you left before I could even wake up!"

"It's not _my_ fault _you_ have a tenancy to sleep in." He must have run to breakfast, also.

'Hey, Kurama, gonna' join us again? I think I forgot how to use the pronged thingy…'

'"Fork", Yusuke. "Fork".'

'Er, right…'

'Well, okay, it was nice speaking with you, Minamino-san.' Yusuke gave Chang a startled look.

'Oh! Yes, Chang-san, it was very enjoyable. Quite a shame we don't have any classes together, I wish I were a year older.'

Yusuke raised his eyebrows at Hiei.

'_He's flirting with her_…'

'_Oh like Hell he would. He's probably probing her for information._'

'_Hiei! You gettin' territorial?_' He laughed mentally.

'_No. But I think I may vomit if he smells any more human than he already does._'

Yusuke cackled.

'All right then, goodbye, Chang-san. We'll see you around.' Kurama stood, smiled once more, and walked with Hiei and Yusuke to the Gryffindor table.

'What was that about Fox?'

'Mmm? What do you mean?'

'You were smiling at her like you wanted her for bed.'

Kurama frowned. 'Well, no. And I'm afraid after seeing what it does to Youko, I don't think I'll continue to want one. Actually, she knew some pretty valuable information about the sorting hat.'

Hiei raised his eyebrows at Yusuke, who in turn made a face.

'Hey, Kurama?'

'Yes?'

'What the Hell does that have to do with anything?' Yusuke said in a friendly fashion, sitting down at the Gryffindor table. Hiei and Kurama followed in suit.

'Supposedly it sometimes gives out warnings. These aren't usually clear, nor are they helpful – apparently it did the same thing last year, only about something different, but being the circumstances at that time and this, it is technically impossible on its own.'

'What was it?'

'A bonding of the four houses.'

Yusuke blinked. 'So?'

'To be blunt…could you imagine Slytherin befriending any other house in this room?'

'The Snakes? …Yeah. That is a problem.'

'Exactly.'

'So…how is that valuable?'

'We have a better idea of what _could_ happen if we are found to be demons.'

'Which is?'

'We'd definitely be killed. Probably dressed in wards, burnt at the stake, as they used to do it.' Yusuke winced.

'Ouch.'

"Oi! Minamino!"

'_What's with all the Japanese_—?'

'For your information, Yusuke, 'Oi' is _also_ used in the English community as 'Hey'.'

'We aren't _all _genius-1000-year-old-foxes, Kurama!'

'_Au contraire_. I am not a fox – I am a _kitsune_.'

'PSH!'

Hiei snorted. 'You speak _French_ now, too?'

'Well…'

"_Oi_, Minamino! Why're you sitting at our table again?" Seamus, the one who had started the argument in the first place, was now glaring at Kurama, Dean standing next to him, looking suspicious.

"Yusuke and Hiei invited me and I felt compelled to accept. That and a normal person would rather sit with friends than with near strangers, correct?"

"_Whatever_." This was one of the many reasons why he hated humans.

"Finne-gawn, if you have a _problem_ with it, sit somewhere else. I alone outnumber you any day."

"Oh really, Jaganshi? You know, you aren't exactly at the _altitude_ to match up to me," Hiei's eyes narrowed. "And b'sides, there are _other_ people who don't exactly feel cozy with a Slytherin prancin' about, pretendin' to be in Gryffindor. Let alone one who had the sortin' hat _jump off his head_ with fright!"

"You people will never let me live that down, will you?"

"As I _said_, I outnumber you, no matter how many you have. I could _fry_—,"

'_Hiei_! If you're _going_ to brag, let them see in _spars_, not in words! It's annoying.'

"Fox, I'll be _damned_ if _I_ get stuck listening to a bunch of mindless teenagers prattling about trivial concerns for a fucking _year_ without a—!"

"_Mr. Jaganshi_, if I hear you yell such words in my presence again you will receive a detention! Five points from Gryffindor!"

**lll**

As one could guess, the Gryffindors disliked Hiei a little more than Minamino by the end of breakfast.

Hermione was itching to discuss some of the weird behavior with Harry and Ron – but as they were currently in Herbology, she had to pay attention; they were currently being lectured on flesh-eating trees, which she vaguely remembered learning about sometime in 5th year. They were reviewing Snargaluffs so that they could learn about other, more advanced, flesh-eating trees. There was apparently quite a variety.

"Could someone name me a flesh-eating tree besides the Snargaluff?"

Hermione raised her hand with a species in mind – she was the only hand in the air out of all the Gryffindors _and_ Slytherins…except Minamino?

Professor Sprout called on him, saying, "Well, now, that's good – I thought we'd have to catch you foreigners up to where we were, but it appears you've learned a great deal! Alright then, tell me."

"We have one in Japan, whose name translates to 'Death Tree', in English."

"Really?" Her eyebrows came together. "I've never heard of that breed. Could you describe it to me?"

"Of course – it was first made famous by a demon bandit, and is characterized by its red color and the long antennas about the mouth of the plant, which help to pull in prey. It has several different moving trucks that sprout from one set of roots set into the ground, and the trucks tend to wind around other trees and rocks like a vine. There is a mouth at the end of each truck, and each mouth sports several rows of razor-sharp teeth. Its saliva is a natural acid that helps it digest whatever it catches, bones and all."

The room was quiet after he'd spoke. Then Professor Sprout said, "Mr. Minamino, what did you say about demons?"

"Oh – it was made a popular substitute for bodyguards or attack dogs by a demon thief. However, Magical Japan had to outlaw the planting of this tree not long after, due to the fact that it would attack not just intruders…" He trailed off and shrugged.

"…Oh. I see. Miss Granger! Another tree?"

"The Celtic Thorn."

"Very good! That will actually be a breed we'll be learning…"

Hermione didn't hear the rest – she was staring at Minamino, who was wearing that frown again. But why wouldn't he; that was the second time in England his beliefs had been indirectly shot down. She almost felt sorry for him.

But as she watched, the corner of his mouth turned up at the corner, and he half-mouthed a sentence.

_What_—?

"…So, group up and grab yourselves each a pair of clippers and a Snargaluff to share. Be sure to wear your dragon hide gloves while pruning, the plants shouldn't be able to gnaw through them. Get started!"

Not having enough time to spare to worry on Professor Sprout's choice of words ("_shouldn't be able_"), Hermione watched Ron and Harry as they walked, donning their dragon-hide gloves, to where a small horde of thorned, bush-like Venus flytraps sat. They gently retrieved one, sharing either side of the plant with both hands, and trotted back over to Hermione.

"What are you waiting for, Hermione, put on your gloves!"

"I'll go get some clippers, Ron."

"'Kay."

It must have been a three-person grouping.

"Oh, of course," She took care not to glance over at where the three foreigners where beginning to murmur and laugh in Japanese.

_I need to look up translation charms in the library tonight_…

"Here, take one…" Hermione and Ron turned and each grabbed one of the three secateurs Harry held out.

As soon as they'd gotten at a good start on their Snargaluff, which did nothing more than a light shake whenever they snipped at its over-grown leaves and twigs, Hermione whispered, "I think there's something strange about the foreigners…"

"_Really_, Hermione? Let's see, they have an arrogant, racist Gryffindor, a nice, transvestite Slytherin, and a loud idiot. I'd say I'd say I'd have to agree with you."

"_No_, Ron, and besides, _you'd_ fit into the 'loud idiot' category, too!"

"_What_?"

"Shh! Don't talk so loud, just listen to me! Earlier, right after Professor Sprout called on me, Minamino-san smirked and mouthed something to himself."

"Don't you think he was just talking to Yusuke or Hiei?" Harry asked, looking sideways at the group.

"No, he half-formed the words, like it was involuntary, not like he was trying to get a point across. He would have enunciated if he _had_ been, he's smart enough to do that."

"Well then, it's obvious – he's a nutter."

"_Ron_—!"

"You said so yourself, Hermione, he was talking to himself. Probably t' someone he thinks's in his head. _I _wouldn't be surprised."

"Don't be ridiculous, they wouldn't have sent him here if he was insane. He'd be in an asylum somewhere."

"Do they even _have_ asylums in Japan?"

"_Ron_, of course they do! Japan isn't prehist—!"

"Shut it, they're all staring at us!"

Hermione and Ron whipped around at Harry's words; and sure enough, Minamino, Yusuke, and Hiei were watching them – Minamino with his frown, Yusuke and Hiei each with a glare.

"O-oh…" She felt her face flush and hurriedly turned back to the plant, clipping off a branch that could have stayed in her haste. She made her whisper much quieter when she spoke again, "I didn't know we were talking that loud…"

"You weren't, Minamino just looked up when Ron yelled. He said something to the other two and they've been watching us since."

"They couldn't've heard us, though, could they?"

"I bet you they're _all_ insane. That's why they can hear so well, deterioration of the brain _enhanced_ it."

"You don't have any proof that even happens, _Ronald_. Besides, if they _can_ hear us, then_ they're listening to us right now_!"

"You can't know—!"

"_Brilliant_, you two, now even _Minamino's_ glaring at us…"

"_See_!"

'Graynger-san is much more observant than I had thought.'

'He thinks we're _insane_? _Insane_?'

'I read the wench's mind. She's going to look up translation spells tonight.'

'Really, Hiei? Is there any chance she may find information on them?'

'Maybe. I looked through the castle last night – the library's fucking huge.'

'That will be a problem.'

'Guys, can't we just speak in the Demon World language?'

'No, its tones are too harsh for humans to pronounce the words; therefore it's technically impossible for us to be human and speak it fluently at the same time. It would blow our cover, eventually.'

'Shit.'

'Exactly.'

'Then how can we—?'

'Remember, Yusuke, we always have telekinesis.'

'Oh, _yeah_, so it'll look like _we're _crazy, too!'

'_Excuse _me?'

**lll**

Professor Vivian Rhone was a meek and repentant creature. She loved cats, especially fluffy ones; classical music, especially orchestras; her best friends were books, and people who _also_ liked books.

She hated all canines out of a spite formed through a nasty incident with a German Sheppard; any sort of music containing an electric guitar hurt her ears; and she was not one for loud, fickle persons – which was exactly why she was not particularly ecstatic about teaching children. Who generally liked all of those.

Sure, she'd lectured adults on magical theory.

But not taught.

Oh, no.

Monday had been all right. The children were fairly attentive and obeyed well enough to call it an "okay" first day.

Tuesday was a little better than that; though, she had to deal with some snide comments from a Slytherin to a Hufflepuff. Of course she'd stuttered, sounded absolutely ridiculous as she pointed and said "assertively" to the girl that she not say that again, and over-all lost complete respect form the Slytherin house. She just knew that on Wednesday she was going to have trouble.

Hey – she _might_ have been a pansy, but woman's intuition is a wide spread kind of thing.

The vibe thrived when, on the fated date of Wednesday, the first morning class of the day filtered into the classroom with less-than-potent enthusiasm.

One of the houses was to be Slytherin – and yes, there was a green-badged blonde now, sitting down next to a green-badged, pig-faced girl. A green-badged, gorilla-like teen took the seat on his other side.

_Pull yourself together, Viv!_ She thought fiercely, _They're just children! Just-_children

But of course, she still cowered, crouched inside her office, watching the class slowly fill up with 6th years through her cracked door. Gryffindors were beginning to arrive also, sitting on a totally different side of the room than the other house, but talking just as casually.

Her moment of truth came when a boy, the Slytherin one of the foreigners with long, probably dyed red hair, entered into the room.

"_Ohayou_, Yusuke, Hiei…"

As he began speaking in Japanese to his two previously arrived companions, who sat, as their house suggested, on the Gryffindor side, the blonde smirked to the pig-faced girl and called over the light chatter, "Oi, _FAGGOT_."

A hush fell nearly instantly upon the group, except for the other Slytherins, who laughed, and the redhead, whose form was now tense. No one stood up for the boy, because, as Rhone had observed in the Great Hall, he wasn't really liked by either house. The other two foreigners were watching the blonde with narrowed eyes.

The redhead calmly straitened and turned to face the sneering blonde. "Excuse me, Malfoy-san? Did you wish to speak with me?"

_Oh_ if every kid had manners like that.

"What is _with_ the way you always go and talk to the _Gryffindor_ crap? You wish you were in their ruddy house,or something? Or can you just not be without your faggot lovers?"

This caused a few of the shorter-tempered Gryffindors, as well as the other two foreigners, stand with a shuffle. The tallest of the black haired Japanese made an unfamiliar gesture with his arms that had to have been offensive, and retorted haughtily, "Hey, I don't know about Hiei, but _I'm_—!"

"M-M-Mr. M-_Malfoy_! W-watch your mouth! That's, that's _ten_ points from Slytherin, and a, a _detention_ with me tonight! Five-o'-clock, please!"

The sneer quickly dropped off the blonde's face to be replaced with a damning scowl. He sulkily turned to face the girl again. The Gryffindors took their seats, nearly all smirking with satisfaction.

The redhead was staring at her with contemplation on his face – he seemed the only one to bother with questioning the reason why she'd so dramatically popped out of her office at such a convenient time. He did not, however, look thankful; and with a forlorn splash, the knot in her gut tightened as it sank a few more inches – maybe there was a _reason_ he was in Slytherin, like logic gaily supported.

She trotted down the steps to the desk in front of the classroom, being careful not to make eye contact with anyone after her "performance". When she reached her desk, she sat down, grabbed the list of kids in the class she had purposefully sat there, and called out, "I'm going to call roll, now. Please say your name…I mean, please say '_here'_ when _I_ say your name.

"Brown, Lavender?"

"Present."

"Good, then. Crabbe, Vincent…"

When she arrived at the first foreigner's name, she vaguely remembered the way Minerva pronounced it, and tried that; "Jaganshi, Hy-ee-ee?"

"It's _Hee-ay_, Woman." The shortest boy.

"Er, please address me as Professor. M-Mr. Jaganshi."

"Whatever."

_Oh no_…_The _Gryffindors_ aren't turning on me now, _are_ they?_

"Y-yes. Uh, Longbottom, Neville?"

"Here."

"Malfoy, Draco?"

"_Here_." Oh. The blonde boy.

_At least the worst's over n_…noanother_ foreigner_…great…

"Uh…um, M-Myna-mino, Shu-ychee?"

"It is actually pronounced Meena-meeno, Su-eechee, Ma'am," That red head pronounced it slow for her, "I am here."

"Oh…yes, thank you. Patil, Parvati?"

"Here."

When roll had finished, and she had passed the last foreigner, Yusuke Urameshi (who was also rather friendly about the butchering of his name), she fumbled around on her desk for her lesson plan. It was based off of the strange, brutal murders scattering the country (though, kept from the public (Rhone's father was an auror, and thus _she_ knew)), in which people would be found in remote areas untouched but their torso and head, which were devoid of almost any tissue. Like something had eaten them.

So, of course, Rhone was going to review with them defensive maneuvers for Kappas, and then teach them some for Ogres and Trolls – some of the creatures thought to be feasting on the humans, though according to her father, there was not one yet specified by the Ministry.

Kappas were first on the list, so she grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote the word on the chalkboard behind her, afterwards drawing a line underneath it. She turned around as she said, "T-today we will be reviewing kappas, and, and the ways you might defend yourself fr-from them." Persons of the class groaned. "Let's start by…who, who can tell me what a kappa looks like?" Thankfully, two persons (Mr. Minamino and a brown-hair girl, Miss Granger) raised their hands to answer.

Curious about the redhead, Rhone nodded to him, and he began, "Kappas are scaled demons found in the Ninginkai with the shell of a turtle and a monkey-like appearance. They are water dwellers, and live in lakes or rivers. They have an indenture in the top of the head, surrounded by hair and holding water when on land; if the water spills from its head, then the kappa becomes extremely weak and may even die from it. Their main diet is human child entrails, though they will also eat adults, and can be bought off with cucumber instead of such."

Mr. Malfoy and some of the other Slytherins snickered at the mention of the cucumber, which she had to admit, majoring in magical creatures in addition to magical defense, she'd never heard of.

"Er, Mr. Minamino, where did you hear all of that? I didn't know kappas had turtle shells, I've never seen one with one, either."

"I learned from my mother, Professor; kappas were originally Japanese creatures, and in Japan, every kappa _I've_ seen wore a turtle shell. Perhaps the European version is merely without one?"

"Oh! Yes, I'd forgotten…erm, well…could you repeat…?" Mr. Minamino smiled politely in reply, and listed the things again; she wrote them in bullet format underneath "Kappas", hearing the Slytherins laugh again as she scrawled "eats human entrails and cucumbers" last.

"All right, anything else...?" Miss Granger raised her hands, glancing sideways at Mr. Minamino, who sat a few seats down her row. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"What did Minamino-san say about where kappas lived?"

"Lakes and rivers, Graynger-san."

"Yes, but you said something about them being found in a place that started with an 'N'…I was just wondering what it was again."

Mr. Minamino's kind smile suddenly seemed a little tight. "Ninginkai."

"Where is it?"

"…We live in Ninginkai, Graynger-san. It translates to 'Human World' in English."

The girl's eyes narrowed infinitely, and Rhone felt a sudden tension. "W-w-well! Any, any other questions about kappas?" No one raised their hand. "G-great! Then we'll move on, now, to, to Ogres!" She turned sharply and began to write "Ogres" next to "Kappas". She decided she'd let it slip that she'd never really talked about how to disarm one.

**lll**

Harry had went to bed late on Friday, because he'd wanted to finish an essay for Professor Flitwick before the weekend, and had stayed up to until nearly one-o'-clock to write its last few paragraphs – thought still before Hermione had come back from the library. Due to the fact that Ron had stayed up also, so that they could help each other out with the paper (i.e. cheat), they both were the groggiest when at 7:00 AM, Yusuke pounded about the dorm, pulling on clothes and yelling, "GET UP YOU GUYS, WE'RE GONNA' BE LATE, HIEI ALREADY LEFT—!"

Finally, Seamus sat up and screamed back, "IT'S SATURDAY, YOU _MORON_!"

"YEAH!"

"_SO_, WHY TH' _HELL_ ARE YA' RUNNIN' ABOU' LIKE A CHICKEN WITH ITS HEAD CUT OFF?"

"WE'RE_ LATE_—!"

"WE DON'T 'AVE _CLASSES_ TODAY, _IT'S THEBLOODYWEEKEND_!"

"…What?"

"WE-DON'T-'AVE-CLASSES!"

"You're serious? You Brits don't have class on Saturday?"

"…No. You do?"

"_WHOOO_-HOO!"

The inhabitance of the Gryffindor boy's dormitory all sat up in bed, and watched the half-dressed Yusuke literally bound out their room's door and down the stairs, bellowing a victory cry.

"…Th' bloody 'ell was that?"

"No clue, mate."

"Let's go back t' sleep…"

"_Right_…"

They each flopped backward onto their pillows.

**lll**

Yusuke re-entered some time later, thankfully quiet, and changed into some muggle attire; a pair of jeans that went too high up his torso, and a white t-shirt.

He flew back out in a skip.

It was another twenty minutes before the third disturbance that morning entered; Hermione burst into the dorm, dressed and wide-eyed, shouting at Harry and Ron to come outside.

They venomously refused.

Harry, however, got quick to dressing when Hermione dragged him to his window and pointed out to him two figures darting about on the front lawn of the castle. They left Ron in his bed, who had not bothered looking, even once Harry had begun his haste.

When Harry and Hermione quitted Hogwarts' open doors, they were confronted with a small crowd of students. Somehow they fought their way through the group to the front; and there, shamelessly shirtless and panting, Yusuke and Hiei stood across from each other in unfamiliar fighting positions. Each sported bruises and scrapes, perhaps a few shallow cuts, and the legs of their pants were heavily grass stained.

Minamino, in gray sweat pants and shirt, stood underneath a nearby tree, watching them carefully. Next to his out-of-place silken slippers were two shirts, a first-aid box, and a long, thin sword in a black scabbard.

The pause in their fight ended, and Yusuke and Hiei threw themselves at each other, almost too fast to comprehend. They didn't seem to be defending, just hitting and kicking at whatever they could reach.

Harry's eyes had to process very quickly to catch it; Yusuke caught the foot of Hiei, who had been aiming a kick at his groin, and with little effort, turned and threw him; Hiei was in the air for about ten feet before he arched his back, caught himself on the ground with his hands, and flipped around, skidding through the grass, back onto his feet. They ran at each other again, but his time, Hiei did a backwards flip when they met and kicked Yusuke in the chin, sending him back – he almost lost his balance, but caught himself, and that was when Hiei jumped forward and punched him several times in the gut, what looked like _fire_ engulfing his fists. This time Yusuke fell back onto the grass, and before Harry knew it, Hiei was kneeling on his chest, his knees pinning his shoulders down – it would have looked rather suggestive if Hiei hadn't been choking Yusuke with one hand, the other pulled back as if to punch him again in the face, once again in flame.

He didn't have the chance; "DONE." Harry and Hermione turned to see Minamino walking out with the first aid kit and sword, having yelled the word that had completed the match. Hiei jumped backwards off of Yusuke, and Yusuke sat up, wincing and rubbing his throat sulkily. He had burns the shape of Hiei's knuckles branded into his abdomen, and the top hem of his jeans was fringed black.

"_Dammit_, Hiei, you _bastard_—,"

"Don't offer a spar if you can't take the pains. Idiot."

"—fucking_ straddled_me—,"

"That was a _spar_?" They all looked up at Hermione, who was outraged. "A spar is a practice fight where _no one_ gets hurt!"

"Graynger-san, we tend to spar a bit differently…it's nothing illegal, we did it all the time in Japan, sometimes with sensei, sometimes with other friends of ours. Yusuke actually came out for the better than he usually does when sparring with Hiei."

"Only because I didn't use my _katana_."

Minamino ignored him and the fuming Hermione, and turned to Yusuke. "Anything broken?"

"My wind pipe."

"I'm afraid I don't have any balm for that. All you might have is a bruise, but that'll heal by next Saturday. Anything more external?"

"Well, the cut above my eye might—,"

"Here." He threw a small plastic box at him from the container, and then a rag. "Wet the cloth with your water bottle and hold it to your wound after you put on the salve. It'll help it heal faster, and the cloth will keep the blood from dripping into your eye. As it's doing now."

"_I know_, I've had head wounds before, Kurama, jeez…you do this _every time_…"

"Take the medical box with you. Don't use any of the painkillers yet – _I _want to have a go at you once Hiei and I are finished."

"_I know_, Kurama, stop showing off!"

Minamino rolled his eyes. "Touché." Harry felt himself gape as he then plucked a piece of grass from the ground and grew it at a startling pace into a long, thin blade. The way it shone in the sun gave Harry the impression it was unusually sharp.

This was about the time Hiei picked up the sword Minamino had brought with him and threw the sheath carelessly to the ground – the katana's gleam seemed more malicious than the other's – and backed a fair distance away from his opponent. They both took stances, each holding their weapon in a set position.

"Wait! You're not…'_sparing_' with swords, _are you_?"

"Graynger-san, as I have said, there is nothing to worry about. Everything is perfectly safe."

"_But_—!"

Yusuke, sitting underneath the certain nearby tree, yelled, "START!"

Instead of meeting each other in a run, Minamino held his position and let Hiei spring to him. He brought his sword easily through the air, down on Minamino's head – but Minamino had his blade up to meet Hiei's katana, and instead of chopping the redhead in half, the weapons made a sharp _shink_ that lasted a moment before Minamino pushed Hiei, still hanging in the air, back with his grass. Then he surged forward, and they began into random clash of swords, which lasted a few minutes; when they broke away, Hiei and Minamino had both shallow cuts littering their arms – and Minamino had a slice down his shoulder and through his sweatshirt, due to the speed at which Hiei swung his sword.

Harry looked to Hermione as Hiei charged with his katana held out to the side; she was staring at the two with a look of horror. As he watched, she turned and ran back through the gasping crowd back toward Hogwarts. He was about to go after her (as the swordplay was beginning to make him sick as well), but he instead whipped around as he saw the crowd wince and heard a frustrated scream.

For a moment Harry was panicked; but then he saw that Hiei had merely hacked off a healthy chuck of Minamino's hair, making it uneven at the bottom, and Minamino was staring over his shoulder with a stunned expression on his face. Then Harry'd thought that Hiei had seriously wounded him, because of the expression on Minamino's face and the blood oozing from a slice at his new hair line…

But then the redhead's face turned livid with anger, and he turned about to kicked Hiei several feet upwards, forcing the air out of the boy's lungs and causing him to cough brokenly once he'd landed.

Apparently, his hair meant more to him than any injury he'd so far sustained.

In another ten minutes, which consisted of much more flinching and gasps from the audience, said group began to part with unusual speed, and Professor McGonagall's own seething face came stomping through, an ashen Hermione behind her.

"Stop this _right-now_!"

Minamino broke away from Hiei, who had stopped when he'd heard her voice. They both looked over to her, panting and bleeding, looking quite unconcerned as they waited for her to speak. The people who had been watching were silent.

"What in _Merlin's name _are you doing?"

"Sparring, Ma'am. Our sensei has wished us to continue with our physical training as best we can, and we decided since the English get Saturday off from school, we could hold our practice today. Do you need us to move somewhere else?"

McGonagall looked surprised for a moment before setting her mouth into a very thin line. "Your…_sensei_…permitted you to spar like this?" Her nostrils were flaring.

"She encouraged it. Actually, she would probably want me to use my rose instead of grass, even though it wouldn't be fair to Hiei."

"_Oh really_?" Professor McGonagall sounded somewhere between sarcastic and incredulous. "And how would that be? It looks like your '_grass_' is fairly effective."

"Yes, but I can turn my rose into a thorned whip."

She looked stunned for a moment. "My, that's…alarming."

"At least you didn't call it kinky."

"M-_Mr. _Minamino! Fifty points from each of your houses! You three will have detention with me next week, meet in my office Sunday at five-o'-clock! Now_ get _to the Hospital Wing _and put your shirts back on_!"

**lll**

News spread of the sparring match between Yusuke and Hiei, and Kurama and Hiei; the Slytherins who had once snidely pestered Kurama now stayed out of his way, and Seamus no longer complained about his sitting at the Gryffindor table to eat. Luna Lovegood became their steadfast friend, and sat now with the three during breakfast and supper; and sometimes they even ate with her at the Ravenclaw table, as Yusuke thought the girl was hilarious.

To Kurama's relaxation, Youko thought her a "delusional guttersnipe", despite her avid belief in demons and ability to understand most Japanese; and so Hermione and Neville remained the only ones in any sort of "danger" of unlikely harassment.

September passed without too much incident after the McGonagall's detentions, except for a week in which the solstice occurred – the three were extremely active during that time, and they'd had to go out at night to beat the energy out of each other nearly every day.

He'd been very sore that week.

Other than that, they'd continued their sparring on Saturdays – except, as during the solstice, it took place at nighttime, in the forest while everyone else slept.

And so September drew to a close, and they entered the first week of October, with no sign of Hermione's translator charm.

The paychecks they received via Kiyoshi were quite up lifting.

But then there was something else they had to deal with…

Kurama moaned when he awoke, earlier than any of his classmates, to find a new sign on the Slytherin notice board. It was advertising a trip to Hogsmeade on Halloween, and while Kurama wasn't aware of what or where Hogsmeade was, he knew Yusuke and / or Hiei would go and do something to screw it up. Let alone the fact that tracking Harry and his friends was hard enough in the castle; during a field trip it would be even more troublesome. Especially because he would be much more susceptible to attack outside of the school.

But Kurama relaxed when he saw that one needed a permission slip – which they didn't have.

And then he panicked for the exact same reason.

_Why couldn't Koenma have thought any of this through? _

_Shuichi, he probably has. _

_What makes you think that? _

_He'll probably mail them to you, he's not an idiot. _

_Oh really? Was Koenma also one of your ridiculous favorites? _

_Ew. No. _

_Then—? _

"Oi, Shuichi!"

_Ugh. _

_The Malfoy brat?_ Youko sounded delighted.

_Yes. _

_You hate him,_ His tone was still pleased.

_I'm charmed you remember. _

_Little imp seems to have forgotten what you can do with a piece of grass. Hah. _

"Well, well, well, looking forward to Hogsmeade, _Faggot_?"

"No, actually. But I shall probably have to go anyway."

"_Why_?" With his two "friends", Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, backing him up, Draco Malfoy had no trouble sneering down his nose at Kurama, while the others behind him chuckled dumbly.

"Yusuke and Hiei will doubtlessly wish to go, and being that the reason _I_ am here is to ensure Yusuke doesn't kill anything on accident, and Hiei doesn't kill anything on purpose, I'll have to be there, as well." He stared pointedly at Malfoy's eyes, and the boy glanced nervously sideways, before looking back to him.

_Yusuke, I thank Inari for your sense of humor. _

_Feh. You'll regret that by tonight. _

_Yes. I know. _

"Whatever. _Fag_." The boy and his cronies walked past him and through the portrait hole, snickering all the way.

_So unoriginal. _

_And yet his jokes seem more realistic than _you_ give him credit for. _

_I _really_ hope you're talking about yourself. _

_I wouldn't be surprised if you liked men, Shuichi. I'll even _advise_ you to them, they are much less annoying than females; you'll find they skip the ludicrous talking afterwards. Though, females _are_ softer… _

_Just be _quiet

_You have absolutely no libido, what so ever, do you? _

_You have enough sexuality for the both of us. _

_Flattery will get you nowhere, Shuichi-chan. _

Ugh.

**lll**

'Hey, Kurama, are you sick today? You look pale.'

"Yusuke, if I ever become gay, please shoot me. And not by conventional means."

'Er…' Yusuke looked at him worriedly as he sat down next to Hiei. "Kurama, you just said that in English."

He watched Kurama's head snap up and turn to gaze, startled, at the closest person to him; Ron was sitting next to the demon, bluntly staring at Kurama as if he were sick in the head. As Yusuke watched, he moved a few inches away from him.

Everyone within a one-meter radius of Kurama, excluding Hiei, jumped when he slammed his head on the table and left it there.

"Er… Oi, are you _sure_…?"

'Just promise me, Yusuke.'

'…Right. Promise.' He paused. 'What brought that on?'

'Youko.'

He exchanged a glance with Hiei. 'He's bad today, then?'

'He thinks I'll like men. He says I should try one.'

Yusuke felt himself pale. 'Ew.'

'That's not the worst part.'

'…Do I want to know?'

'He keeps pointing out 'pretty foreigners' whom he thinks I should seduce.'

'_Ugh_.'

'Yeah.'

There was a pause in which Yusuke stabbed fiercely at a sausage on his plate. 'Stupid…'

'Yusuke?'

'Eh?'

'Would you like to switch bodies with me?'

'Does Youko stay with your body?'

'Yes.'

'…Do I get to cut off what's left of your hair?'

'Go to hell.'

'Well ya' know – been there, done that.'

The post arrived soon after this; Kiyoshi soared down and dropped three identical letters on Kurama's head before flying off, as the owl was still wary of the three – even if the humans couldn't sense they were demons, the animals could. In the Gryffindor common room there was a ginger-colored cat, that wasn't entirely cat, which despised Yusuke and Hiei like the plague.

'Yusuke, please tell me it didn't just lay droppings on my—,'

'Er, no, it's just a few letters.'

There was a pause as Hiei grabbed one from the stack and read its Japanese-lettered front. 'It's from the Baby.'

Kurama felt Youko smile in a knowing way in his head, and then whisper, _The brown-skinned one doesn't look half bad, eh, Shuichi?_ _Like _chocolate.

And then he laughed in a rather evil fashion.

**lll**

If Hermione had been suspicious before, she was seething with the emotion now.

It was Halloween: currently she, Ron, Harry, and Ginny were walking through the raining, muddy Hogsmeade after taking a short visit to the Three Broomsticks.

And Yusuke, Hiei, and Minamino had followed them the entire time – from the moment they'd exited Hogwarts, right down to entering and leaving, or at least standing outside of, every shop and pub they entered, at nearly the same time.

Minamino'd kept them far enough back that none of the others had noticed – but Hermione, who had been watching the foreigners from the moment they'd gathered before Mr. Filch, had picked up on it straight away. She had to prevent herself from keeping a constant mind on their stalkers, as to not alert Minamino – he'd proven himself vigilant in Herbology all those weeks ago, and she'd never forgotten that.

It was as if they were at war now; who could dominate the other first, Hermione finding out what in the world they were up to, and Minamino keeping the secret.

She welcomed the challenge – nothing had been this interesting since second year, when she'd been up to her knees in the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets.

She disregarded the reasoning that this was probably all in her head and her woman's intuition had long since hitched a ride somewhere else.

The only other good thing about this mess was that the three weren't Death Eaters – they'd proven it when they'd sparred that one day.

Except for Minamino…

"Oi, Hermione, we all want t' go take a look at the Shrieking Shack, Dean told Ginny some cool flowers have sprung up that'll eat your toes. Wanna' come?"

_Oh yes, Ron, I'd just _love_ to go into a remote area with three physically inclined, possibly malicious Japanese boys stalking us! _

Oh, well. They were having a slight struggle with spell casting, so if they _did_ do anything funny, four DA members _should_ be able to fight them off…

_But I wonder if Hiei's brought his sword_… She shivered at the thought. _It's amazing Dumbledore hasn't confiscated it yet. _

"Why not…?" It would look strange, besides, if she refused…and what type of _flower_ was carnivorous, in _that_ fashion? There was no such thing, wizarding world or not…

The group got down the road that lead to the overlook of the Shrieking Shack easily. Ron, Harry and Ginny were boisterous enough while they walked up the road, but once the Shrieking Shack came into sight, Ron and Harry both fell quiet. Ginny took to teasing the flowers, which were little mouths, set in the center of a tulip whose petals would contract open and shut. It was actually entertaining the way they'd hiss and flop over on their unusually strong stems for your finger.

In the silence, Hermione made an excuse to glance behind her – and the foreigners weren't there. The muddy road behind them was empty, all but for the four sets of footprints belonging to them, and an abundance of dieing mint and ivy.

_Maybe they heard it was haunted_… She thought, before happily agreeing with herself; being that they were taught to be wary of evil spirits and demons, they must have decided not to follow the four up here!

And suddenly Hermione was a lot more contented than she had been the entire morning.

Ginny noticed. "Er, Hermione, what are you smiling about…?"

Ron turned to stare at her strangely, and Harry gave her a cold look – even if Ginny didn't know quite all of the details of what the Shrieking Shack meant to the three, _Hermione_ did.

"Oh, er, well…you, haven't noticed?"

"Noticed what?" Harry's tone was flat.

Well, now was as good a time as ever to tell them. "The three foreigners have been following us ever since we left Hogwarts," She earned startled looks from that statement. "Except, they didn't follow us up here…I think it might be because the Shrieking Shack's supposedly haunted. They wouldn't want to be anywhere _near_ where the town's people say there's evil spirits, if they believe so strongly in them, right?"

"Yeah, that's true. But, why would the foreigners be following us?" Ron said this slowly, still looking at her strangely. Harry, however, narrowed his eyes at this.

"Actually… Well, I don't think I've ever been alone without you guys unless one of the foreigners was with me. For instance, once, on a Saturday, when I went up early to the Owlary to mail an order for some new quills ('coz Crookshanks broke all mine), Hiei was up and said he'd go with me. He said he wanted to see the owls, but I thought it was strange because, you know…it was _Hiei_. He hadn't said two words to me ever before then. But when he almost got hit with some droppings, he cursed the birds to some place called 'Mawk-y', which made me think he didn't like the owls as much as he made it sound…"

Hermione was instantly alert; "Did Hiei tell you what 'Mawk-y' was?"

"Well, when I asked, he said it was Hell, where demons reside." Harry frowned.

"…Do you know how it was spelled?"

"I suppose it'd just be how it sounds…M-A-W-K-Y. Or, just M-A-K-Y?"

"No, the Japanese spell differently than we do…"

"Wait, you're not thinking of going to the _library_ after this, _are_ you?"

"Ron, I think demons have a _very_ big part in whatever the foreigners are up to. They keep coming up with everything to do with them!"

"_What makes you think they're even up to something in the first place_?"

"Ron, they were _stalking_ us, and following _Harry_! And besides, they're even '_friends_' with demons! Minamino told me of one on the train…"

"Really?" Ginny interjected, also frowning, "What did he tell you?"

Hermione began to blush as the words, "…_lewd person who has a tenancy to steal_…" echoed in her head. "Let's just say…he wasn't very nice."

"D'you think Minamino was lying to you?"

"Well, he had to be, right? Demons like that don't exist…at least, anymore…"

"_Or_, they're all actually crazy, and just _think_ that they—!"

"_Ronald_! Will you stop with that cock-and-bull already? They're _not_ insane!"

**lll**

"Graynger-san? Where are you going?" Even though by now, the rest of the swooning girls at the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables had graduated to "chan", Hermione preferred things to be kept formal between herself and Minamino. A rivalry didn't call for familiarities.

"Oh, I think I'll just do some reading in the library before I go to bed."

"But the special feast's not over yet." Apparently, he wanted to keep her within sight; otherwise he would have dropped the subject, and besides, the confused look on his face was what he usually used on Lavender, Parvati, or Cho when he asked them about things concerning Hogwarts.

"I know, but I can't wait."

"At least take something to eat with you." …Okay, what was _that_ about? "We don't want you to starve." Oh, _right_; _there_ was the smile he usually used on Lavender, Parvati, or Cho when he asked them about things concerning Hogwarts…

"Sure…" She cautiously took up a slice of garlic bread, and then left without another word to Minamino. When she looked around as she left the Great Hall, she saw him contemplating his pumpkin juice, that small frown on his face.

When she arrived at the library, almost finished eating her bread, she made sure to slip past so that Madam Pince, the librarian, didn't see her – so she might stay longer, until after the library had closed. Then she made to look at the section on other magical countries; she'd wait to scour the restricted section until Madam Pince had left.

Well, desperate times call for desperate measures...

But of course she found nothing there; well, in reality, she found a lot, but for the sake of Japan, nothing. And since she'd never studied it when she'd been in her old muggle school, she barely knew what the island was even shaped like.

At 7:51 PM, Hermione waited, horribly nervous, for Madam Pince to finish shuffling about, closing up the library; she never found Hermione as she walked, keeping to the back of the librarian, but came excruciatingly close, while she avoided her behind a bookshelf. Once the Madam Pince had locked up, Hermione slid from underneath a desk and rushed, quietly, to the restricted section.

It seemed like an hour before she found anything on demons (_A Guild to the Magical Properties of Pogrebin Spleens and More_), and even then it wasn't anything useful. The publish date was too soon to include any sort of extinct demon.

Then she discovered a book on Japanese magical fighting (_"Spirit Energy": the Genius of the Japanese_), which was interesting, as it explained (in explicit, gory detail) attacks like she had seen the foreigners use, the one time they'd "sparred"; but not answering the more pressing questions (though it did verify Minamino's talk of intense training schedule).

Another hour or two brought forth the relatively thin book (_A Guild to the Four Worlds_), which she would have normally bypassed, due to the fact that, as far as she knew, there was only one; except for the author's name, Yusuke Hiroshima. Being that she knew the author had to be Japanese, she pulled the book from the shelf. She was greeted with the frightening title page, of a mad-looking, humanoid creature with faded red skin, incisors that jutted from the top and bottom of the mouth, and a crown of red horns, pressing up through tangled black hair.

Hermione turned through the stained pages to the table of contents, the picture of the beast disturbingly familiar.

The table of contents was quite simple; the first chapter was, '_Ninginkai; Earth, the Human World_', the second, '_Reikai; Heaven, the Spirit World_', the third, '_Makai; Hell, the Demon World_', and the fifth, _Acknowledgements_.

She muttered, "_Nox_!" as she ran to the back exit of the library, clutching the book to her side.

* * *

**Aw, shit. Sorry, this one was really messy... I had to re-upload it.  
****Thrice.  
**

**Footnotes: **

**"'The tables aren't even…_holy cheese_!'"; Yusuke really does say "Holy cheese" in the manga.  
****No, seriously. In the third one, I think. **

**"'For your information, Yusuke, 'Oi' is _also_ used in the English community as 'Hey'.'"; …It is, right? **

**"Hiei snorted. 'You speak _French_ now, too?'"; Genius-1000-year-old-kitsune, remember? **

**"…they were currently being lectured on flesh-eating trees, which she vaguely remembered learning about sometime in 5th year. They were reviewing Snargaluffs so that they could learn about other, more advanced, flesh-eating trees."; They actually _did_ learn about Snargaluffs in 5th year – though, one only assumes (due to the context in which it was mentioned) that a Snargaluff is a flesh-eating tree.  
****'_Damn, Lanie-chan, you're a Harry Potter geek, aren't you?_'  
****Ha. No.  
****But the wondrous people at just happen to be – and I do suggest you investigate their Harry Potter Encyclopedia if writing such a fanfiction, it's very helpful.  
****Just thought I'd say that instead of starting a bibliography. The footnotes are enough. **

**"'Oh – it was made a popular substitute for bodyguards or attack dogs by a demon thief. However, Magical Japan had to outlaw the planting of this tree not long after, due to the fact that it would attack not just intruders…' He trailed off and shrugged."; He lied.  
****But you know you'd attack me if I talked about flesh-eating trees and didn't have Kurama say something, correct? ****  
'Thought so.  
****And of lesser importance (har har), it's essential to the plot. **

**"'Oi, _FAGGOT_.'"; You can't tell me Kurama can walk around with that long of hair and not be called gay or transvestite. ****Plus, I don't have Malfoy in this enough; I need to make him say something offensive ev'ry once-and-a-while. **

**"The pause in their fight ended, and Yusuke and Hiei threw themselves at each other, almost too fast to comprehend."; Obviously they aren't going to fight at their normal pace, in which Harry _wouldn't_ be able to see them, because it would blow their cover. **

**"'Sparring, Ma'am. Our sensei has wished us to continue with our physical training as best we can, and we figured since the English get Saturday off from school as well, we could hold our practice today. Do you need us to move somewhere else?'"; Figuring that, since spirit energy is basically the same as magic, he thinks the reason she's angry is not because fighting is not permitted, but that they were not allowed to do it in that particular venue.  
****Obviously, he was wrong. But that's beside the point. **

**"'At least you didn't call it kinky.'"; …Don't tell me that you've never thought the whip thing was kinky.  
****Don't. You. Dare.  
****'Coz that would mean I have a dirty mind, and concoct unwanted blasphemy from the creation of innocent weapons.  
****And of_ course_ I don't.  
H****ar har har.**

**  
****NOTE: So, _hopefully_ I've conveyed enough that the DADA teacher is used out of need because, according to the curse on the teaching position, one may only teach that subject there for a year, and not because I want a character in this, right?  
****Hell, I've even made her hate canines.  
****…Which I may have some fun with later, but that's beside the point…  
****Point is, I _like_ dogs, don't particularly care for classical music, and, as I guess one might suppose from my writing, I am _not_ a quiet person.  
****NOTNOTNOT.  
****And _please_ don't tell me I could have used Genkai or Kuwabara or Koenma or the like as a DADA teacher; for tell me, _what_ would the two latter know about teaching, and _why_ would the former _want_ to?  
****She's almost dead, for Matt's sake!  
****DEAD!  
****Hell, _I _wouldn't want to go teach when I'm short-tempered, hate idiots, and have one foot in the river Styx!  
****…Anyway. "Thiefqueenkokuei" and "lectaelf" both get half a poisonous cookie for trying, as yes, the certain Sophie Jenkins whose maiden name is Hatter also comes from that anime; however, since it is not _technically_ where it comes from, it's not entirely correct, and hence they only get half.  
****But thanks for trying.  
****You'd have to read the book(s) to get the full cookie, I suppose…**

**-Salut**


	4. In which Nothing Real Important happens

**Key:  
"Talking – English in an English setting / Japanese in a Japanese setting; Japanese heard by a person who speaks only English and visa-versa."  
'Talking – Any other language than the "text in the quotation marks."'  
**_**'Telekinesis'  
Thinking / Conscience **_

**You'll all be happy to know that Dean will be re-appearing as Ginny's boyfriend soon.  
Sorry about that btw – I know, I kinda' forgot about him. God this has so many effing plot holes…  
But no use crying over dead dogs, I suppose…  
Anyway. He will be.  
And I'll also be making Harry slightly more gaw-gaw and jealous (haven't I made him jealous yet?…)  
Of course, we all know I hate writing love, I know I've already called the genre too sticky, (so don't nag me of it) but I'm trying to be good to the sixth and fifth book (hence the spoiler warning at the beginning of the entire catastrophe).  
And by god, if Madam Rowling says there shalt be romance, there _shalt _be romance, _dammit_.  
'Tis, like, _law_. **

**Rated T for Teen

* * *

Chpt. 4  
Premature Revenge in The Form of mixed candy & The Joy of cigarettes; A Chapter in which Nothing Really Important happens **

Hogsmeade had been a disaster.

But let us first have an over-view of things, so that we may understand as to why the situation was despicable a little clearer (you know, like those stupid little sheets you used to get in grade school math to help you "think things through easier", when we all knew it was a load of crap that no one'll use anyway):

-Yusuke was impossible  
-Hiei was an ass  
-And Hermione was exceedingly observant.

To the first disturbance: Yusuke was impossible.

All throughout their ride in the coaches pulled by the skeletal winged horses, during the stalking of Harry in and out of shops and pubs, and eventually striding down the way to a place called Shrieking Shack, Yusuke was making annoying jokes about every single thing, from the way the post office owls puffed up when the three demons entered, to the color Harry blushed whenever Ginny smiled particularly widely at him.

'But wait, isn't Gin-y dating Dean?' Dean had come down with the stomach flu last night, and was still recovering in the Hospital Wing.

'Yes, she is…'

'_Hah_! _Hay-ry_, you _dog_!'

Then the second disturbance: Hiei was an ass.

Hiei outright refused every time Kurama had asked for assistance with Yusuke, instead taking to watching from the sidelines with a holier-than-thou expression; especially the time Kurama had been nearly beaten to death with a fire poker by the owner of Honeydukes. Apparently, he had been "attempting to steal" several Bloodpops, Fizzing Whizbees, and a Sugar Quill – or in other words, Yusuke and Hiei had forgotten their money bags, and decided Kurama looked an agreeable enough person not be suspected for theft.

_Obviously_, they were wrong.

And the third: Hermione was exceedingly observant.

She hadn't been in the shop when Kurama'd been chased out of Honeydukes (and he had thanked Inari profusely for that), but she _had_ been watching them ever since they'd entered the court yard where Mr. Filch had counted the students out; therefore, Hermione was aware that their little group was being followed (her regular glances to their position in relation to hers supported this inference).

Of course, Youko wasn't any better than _these_ three, but it was normal for him, and he therefore is not included on "the List".

Finally, salvation came in the form of a haunted house; the four "stalkees" had decided to go down a deserted road to look at a place called the Shrieking Shack.

In other words, the three "stalkers" could leave the ground and instead take to the trees – much more inconspicuous…

Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama ended up packed together on the same tree branch, watching their charge(s) (depending on how you looked at things), when Ginny broke a silence that had been in play for some time, "Er, Hermione, what are you smiling about…?"

Yusuke snorted, and Kurama nudged him a little with his elbow.

Fighting off condemning looks from Ron and Harry, Hermione answered, "Oh, er, well…you, haven't noticed?"

Yusuke cursed under his breath, and Kurama nudged him again, harder; though, he couldn't really blame him this time for disturbing the quiet – Hermione was about to squeal on them.

"Noticed what?"

'_Hay-ry doesn't sound very happy, eh? I wonder what he's so miffed about_…'

'_Hush, listen_. _Don't fidget_.'

"The three foreigners have been following us ever since we left Hogwarts." Ever the trouble-maker, Yusuke cursed again, and Kurama cuffed him on the arm. "Except, they didn't follow us up here…I think it might be because the Shrieking Shack's supposedly haunted. They wouldn't want to be anywhere _near_ where the town's people say there's evil spirits, right?"

Hiei snorted this time, and interrupted Kurama's frown with, '_Think again, Girl. We are the evil spirits._'

"Yeah, you're right. But, why would the foreigners be following us?"

Ron, instead of being answered by Hermione, looked to Harry as he began, "Actually… Well, I don't think I've ever been alone without you guys unless one of the foreigners was with me. For instance, once, on a Saturday, when I went up early to the Owlary to mail an order for some new quills 'coz Crookshanks broke all mine, Hiei was up and said he'd go with me. He said he wanted to see the owls, but I thought it was strange because, you know…it was _Hiei_. He hadn't said two words to me ever before then. But when he almost got hit with some droppings, he cursed the birds to some place called 'Mawk-y', which made me think he didn't like the owls as much as he made it sound…"

Kurama glared at Hiei.

He scowled back. '_He doesn't even know what it _is, _Fox, don't glare at_—'

"Did Hiei tell you what 'Mawk-y' was?"

"Well, when I asked, he said it was Hell, where demons reside." Kurama's look enhanced and Hiei glanced away. A few seconds later, their tree branch lit on fire, due to the ameko's agitation.

While the three went into a rush to extinguish the flames as quietly as possible, with Youko cursing loudly in the demon dialect and shouting unheeded instructions in the back of Kurama's head, Hermione once again continued, "Do you know how it was spelled?"

"I suppose it'd just be how it sounds…M-A-W-K-Y. Or, just M-A-K-Y?"

"No, the Japanese spell differently than we do…"

'_And thank Inari for that_.'

"Wait, you're not thinking of going to the _library_ after this, _are_ you?"

'Fuck_ Inari for _that'

'Hiei—,'

"Ron, I think demons have a _very_ big part in whatever the foreigners are up to. They keep coming up with everything to do with them!"

'_Eh, you guys, stop it, 'Minee's being really smart_…' Yusuke had trouble pronouncing "Hermione"; hence the nickname.

"_What makes you think they're even up to something in the first place_?"

'_I knew you were good, even _after_ you insulted me, Wee-sodee-san._'

"_Ron_, they were _stalking_ us, and following _Harry_! And besides, they're even '_friends_' with demons! Minamino told me of one on the train…"

And so it was Yusuke and Hiei's turn to glower at Kurama. He avoided their eyes.

'_You fucking hypocrite_…'

'Hush_, Hiei_…'

"Really? What did he tell you?"

Hiei's scowl enhanced as light from his forehead faded, '_You told her about _Youko?'

_And damn you for it, Shuichi. _

"Let's just say…he wasn't very nice."

'_He was on my nerves_…'

"D'you think Minamino was lying to you?"

"Well, he had to be, right? Demons like that don't exist…at least, anymore…"

'_Feh._'

"_Or_, they're all actually crazy, and just _think_ that they—!"

'_Dammit, Ron, that's getting _really_ annoying!_' Yusuke's whining echoed in the other two's heads.

"_Ronald_! Will you _stop_ with that cock-and-bull already? They are _not_ insane!"

'_Knew I liked you, 'Mionee.' _

**lll**

"Graynger-san? Where are you going?" Kurama felt strange asking, but it was necessary.

"Oh, I think I'll just do some reading in the library before I go to bed."

_True to your word, aren't you? _"But the special feast's not over yet." If he could restrict her time as much as possible, at least for today, then the three of them might be able to work something out about their excessive carelessness – that someone over here was _that _paranoid wasn't something he'd planned for.

_How interesting. All of you screwed up, _except_ for Yusuke_… Kurama shuddered inwardly at the irony, and therefore didn't catch Hermione's reply; but he got the jest of it as she began to turn away.

"At least take something to eat with you." It would be easier to smell where she had been looking if she at least ate something more than juice and potatoes.

She gave him a suspicious look as he said, "We don't want you to starve," but took up a piece of garlic bread as she agreed, afterwards leaving without goodbye.

_Sometimes I worry over the kit – what _manners_ she has_…

_You and your biazare deliberations._

_And what do you intend by that? _

_What do you consider yourself – her father?_

_I like to think I know etiquette better than most humans – I'm actually not surprised about Hermione-san's actions, being she was raised by the casual barbaric being_. _Trimming shrubbery_. _Intolerable_.

Oh_ – you mean like Kuronue? _

A hurt sort of silence greeted this, and Kurama took a sip of the pumpkin juice he'd been speculating for the past minute to cover a slight guilt.

_You know I didn't mean any harm_.

A low growl greeted his words

Ah, well. Youko'd be well and merry by morning, all pessimistic and poised to wreak havoc on his sanity, as usual.

This thought was answered by a particularly harsh throb, somewhere in the back of his brain.

**lll**

Yusuke strolled down the halls of the school like he owned it, half-sulking, half-alert; that Filch's stupid cat was quite the little snitch (he'd almost gotten caught after curfew by her twice), so he had to be at least partly responsible.

But only partly.

Pulling his hands out of his pants pockets, Yusuke drew with him his wand and a package of cigarettes he'd nabbed at Hogsmeade – Kurama had been so caught up between Youko and Hiei that he hadn't known, and being the excellent shoplifter that Yusuke was, the owner of Dervish and Banges hadn't, either.

Yusuke extracted a cigarette from the plastic wrapping happily, then shoved the rest of his prize back into the pocket. Holding the tobacco well away from his face and pointing his wand tip at the white end, he muttered, "Incendio,"; there was a small puff of blue flame that lit the paper, and once it had subsided into a mere burn, he pushed the cigarette up to his lips, inhaling deeply. The smoke was released through his nostrils with a contented sigh.

Keiko would kill him if she knew Yusuke was smoking again, and it brought a half-smile to his face.

Heathen-boy, Urameshi, underage (to _them_) and smoking in the halls… Ah, was it good (pretending) to be (sixteen) fourteen again…

He hadn't been allowed the skip classes, that was the deal between him and Keiko; but she hadn't mentioned smoking, so…

Yusuke took another long drag.

Ignoring the floral smell that was the wizard company's selling point, he began to slow his jaunt as the library, his final destination, neared.

He'd been appointed by Kurama to look after Hermione and then report back at the spot where they liked to spar, to tell if she'd found anything, bringing back which useful-looking book's she'd picked up as well. He'd also been told that if she _did_ find anything, to stop her from finding more, or for that matter finding anything, in any way possible – they could make excuses for things Yusuke might reveal in the process later.

But that was just Kurama over-analyzing things, he was sure.

Yusuke stopped outside the library and lent against the wall, getting the most from his cigarette. After the corridor smelled too potently of cheap incense, he looked around for a place to snuff it out, and eventually decided the wall looked pretty decent.

Now getting into the library without being seen…which, of course, wasn't much different than blinking with the inner security of the castle, its primary inhabitance being human.

Yusuke first went to Hermione, recognizing her energy pattern, hopping silently from bookshelf top to bookshelf top; he found her in a section about other magical countries.

_She's pretty smart_, he decided, sitting down on the ledge with his legs crossed, _No wonder Kurama's so nervous – prolly didn't think there was anyone here who could give 'im a run for his money_.

The hour went by slowly, and Yusuke began longing for another cigarette. His pine was interrupted, however, when Hermione checked a watch on her wrist and put the book she'd been dismayingly leafing through back into its slot.

He stretched his arms – about time she was through, library was closing in ten minutes – and stood, waiting for her to leave.

She didn't, though; she flattened her skirt close to her behind and crawled underneath the desk she'd been studying at. Then she moved a few stacks of books she'd previously made so that it hid her on either side – being the packrat that Pince lady was, there were towers alike strew all through out the tables, sometimes even on the floors.

Despite the fact that his babysitting time had just been elongated, Yusuke had to beat down laughter inside of him.

_I always wondered why goody-two-shoes like Kurama stole and things like that_…_guess it's just 'coz they're smart enough, so they do._ He chuckled audibly now, and Pince, on the other side of his bookshelf, looked around the room accusingly.

"Peeves, I'm _warning you_…"

As one might guess, _that_ comment made his day, and so he made a particular effort to jump around after her, making sounds only she could hear, and overall causing her to be very paranoid.

Once he'd raspberry-ed her harassed form out the library doors, Yusuke returned to Hermione, restraining himself from whistling.

She had moved now, to a place in the library Yusuke knew as the restricted section – he'd been nipping around in there one day without permission, when Pince caught him and threw him out of the library for a week.

_Good work,_ _'Minee; tha'd prolly be where I'd look first, too_.

It was another uneventful hour, and another after that; Yusuke was lying half-asleep on his perch when he finally heard the faint mutter of, "_Nox_!"

Then, of course, he fell full-asleep, thanks due to the person who put that annoying light out…

**lll**

Ron rubbed his eyes.

Harry petted Crookshanks.

Crookshanks purred contentedly.

That's about the way the evening went for the three boys.

Hermione had requested they stay up until she arrived back from the library, which was the cause of their continued ignorance of more favorable activities, such as sleeping (they'd given up on their small butte of homework a half hour earlier).

However, Harry and Ron each were another yawn away from screwing that commitment.

And Crookshanks continued purring.

Finally, when Ron had begun a light snoring, the portrait hole was pushed open and closed by none other than a determined Hermione. In her hand she held a crumpled, uncharacteristically thin, book.

"Hermione, where have you been?" Harry pondered groggily, "Ron's gone and fallen asleep."

"Wake him up!" But she didn't wait for him to up-seat her cat and do it himself – she strolled over and shook Ron's shoulders, saying, "Ron, quickly, wake up! This is _really_ important!"

He woke steadily. "W-wot? Who's burning incense?"

"_Ron_, I found something, wake up!"

This made Harry alert, and he suddenly lost the sleepiness in his eyes. When Ron was sitting up a bit straighter, and Hermione was in an armchair herself, flipping through the pages of her book, he began, impatient, "Well, let's have it, Hermione, you're killing me!"

"Hold on, I'm just getting to the part…here," And she laid the book out on a coffee table before them, on a page which had a chapter title printed largely; '_Chapter Three_, _Makai; Hell, the Demon World_' with several oriental characters below that.

Harry's eyes widened slightly and he stood up (gaining an irate hiss from the discarded Crookshanks), coming to kneel next to the table, so that he could read easier.

"The bloody hell'd you get _that_!"

"I found it in the restricted section."

"And who was bonkers enough to let you check it out?" Ron still sounded amazed.

"Er, well…" Hermione's face seemed to redden as Harry read the first line, "I kind of took it…without asking." She hung her head.

Ron gaped, following it up with, "You bloody _stole_? From the_ library_?"

Harry, however, had more important matters to attend to. "Hermione, did Minamino say what his 'demon friend' looked like?"

"He said he had silver hair and…"

"No, what his body looked like." She gave him a strange look and he continued, "His _face_, Hermione."

"Well, he said he was hansom, but…"

"That's not much use; a _dog_ could be hansom…"

"How is this relevant?"

"Oh, well I was just curious – right here, it says that 'Mak-ay-ee'," he struggled to pronounce the word, "is Hell, which is inhabited by demons, and some look more like animals, and some look more like humans." Harry pointed to the sentence and both Hermione and Ron looked over his shoulder to read.

"How did Jaganshi say it again? That Hell-place?"

"I think it was, 'Mawk-y', Ron…oh, that's the same thing, isn't it…?" He felt embarrassed now – Ginny had smiled at him before she'd gone up to bed, and it seemed to have scrambled his brain a little…

"Whatever. Hermione, this book is cool n' all, but how is it going to help with finding out whatever the foreigners are _supposedly_ up to?" Harry and Hermione's brains gave a little click as Ron continued his complaint, "I mean, all it _really_ proves, is all the other Japanese blokes are off _their_ rockers, too!"

Being that Hermione had on a stark straight face as she said her reply, Harry could only assume that she had been serious; "I believe that's the smartest thing I've ever heard out of your mouth in my life."

"_And what's that supposed to_—?"

"Why don't you two go up to bed? And Ron, you should really take that as a compliment."

"_Compliment my bloody_—!"

"I don't think you want that area _bloody_, Ron."

Harry was grinning as he dragged the sputtering Ron upstairs with him to bed – leave Hermione to her reading; they needed to get up in the morning for Sunday quidditch practice.

**lll**

Albus Dumbledore went through the halls at a quick jaunt to his office, wearing what some would say was a contented, perhaps a little spacey, look; and one would be correct in the second matter, Dumbledore wasn't really paying attention to that around him.

No, it was a talk with the Order which was currently occupying his attention. And he was not at all contented.

He'd never seen anything like _that_ in all his years, ever since he'd started teaching; especially from such a sweet-tempered person.

When Dumbledore had first spoken with Mr. Minamino, when the boy had asked to join the Gryffindor table, he was very agreeable, nothing like the usual countenance of a Slytherin. And normally, Dumbledore would ignore the Sorting Hat's disliking of a particular student, except it had certainly never behaved that way before, it had been positively rude – something had to be unusual about the boy. It was even possible Mr. Minamino and his comrades were hiding something dangerous beneath his courteous smile.

This had sparked a very loud rude awakening, which had came to him after the little pondering he'd allowed himself about the subject (priority had obviously been taken by Voldemort). And so Dumbledore had appointed that at midnight on Halloween, all Order members within the school were to meet with him in his office.

Arriving at the gargoyle statues guarding his office, Dumbledore bade them "Butterscotch," and they jumped hastily aside.

Once the moving staircase had propelled him to his office door, Dumbledore opened it and stepped through the threshold to be greeted by McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and several aurors; Nymphedora Tonks, and a new recruit whose name escaped him now.

"Evening, all," He said pleasantly, moving around to take seat at his desk, and receiving replies as he went, "Where has Hagrid gotten to, Minerva?"

"He has not arrived yet, I'm afraid."

"Hmm. We shall have to wait, then." An awkward sort of silence followed, while Dumbledore sat, a muggle's manila file folder beneath his clasped hands, twiddling his thumbs and in thought about a recent incident concerning another mutilated corpse – a wizard's this time.

After five or seven minutes, the last few moments filled by Tonks' bubble-gum popping, the staircase began to grind through its passage and, not long after that, Hagrid burst in, the characteristic bite marks riddling his fingers and some lettuce decorating his beard.

"Sorry I'm late, Dumbledore – I've been tendin' th' blast-ended skroots, yeh' see…" He finished, embarrassed.

"Not at all, Hagrid," Dumbledore smiled at him behind his own silver fuzz, "It's excellent that you would join us.

"Now," Here he stood, "As you might assume, seeing as I have called this meeting in the dead of night and with little warning, what I would like to discuss is a somewhat taboo subject, and so I'd prefer that you be particularly quiet about it.

"Anyway – you might have noticed the rumors surrounding the foreign students—"

Tonks immediately became cross, folding her arms on her chest; "Dumbledore, I'm sorry but I'll have to object – just because a kid's different than…"

"Tonks, I'm afraid that my suspicious are less based on the length of Mr. Minamino's hair, than the length of the parchment containing the records of Mr. Jaganshi's verbal assaults."

But Tonks wasn't finished with him yet, "Still – just because someone was raised to be strong, doesn't mean they're dangerous! That Jaganshi kid was probably brought up to fight, so he'll naturally be a little intimidating!"

"Oh yes," McGonagall interrupted, a sarcastic quality to her tone, "I'm sure the hostile threats he was handing out at the Gryffindor table first day of term were merely an unanswered cry for help," Tonks took on a frustrated expression, but before she could reply to the snub, McGonagall continued, "Or perhaps the vicious sword-play I witnessed firsthand between Mr. Jaganshi and Mr. Minamino, the one time they were caught '_sparing_'," She gave a disapproving sniff, "I still believe that we should confiscate that sword. I don't care if it's supposed to be harmless; it's not _entirely_ non-lethal if it could cut Minamino's hair…"

"He said that was an accident, that his hand merely slipped on the sakobato, Minerva. I don't believe them to be capable of malevolent violence, and you would know that, Tonks, if you had allowed me to finish." Dumbledore's face was pleasant, but she still felt the need to flush.

"I, well, I didn't mean any disres…"

"Not at all, don't worry yourself. But I really would like to continue." No one in the room objected. "Excellent.

"Obviously, there are some mixed feelings about the foreigners – some think they are dodgy, and others misunderstood. However, I'm sure we all can agree that something is not quite normal about them.

"Naturally, the other students have also grasped this; they talk in the halls that Mr. Urameshi smokes cigarettes in the courtyard right before curfew, that Mr. Jaganshi was convicted of several murders back in Japan, or that Mr. Minamino is, in actuality, a hermaphrodite," This gained Dumbledore several startled looks from around the room, "These have little truth to them; Mr. Urameshi smokes not in the courtyard, but primarily in a girl's bathroom inhabited by the ghost Moaning Myrtle, where he has long, pointless conversations with her, and _well_ after curfew." At McGonagall's startled expression, he quickly added, "But I am doing something about that, Minerva, no need to jump the wand.

"Mr. Jaganshi, as his file tells us, has no prior convictions other than a minor theft charge, and I have decided to allow Mr. Minamino to keep whatever unusual body parts he might possess a secret." Flitwick began to look a little pale, and Snape chuckled once to himself.

"However, there are also some strange coincidences that happen to fall into line with the three boys. Such as the well-kept secret of the brutal muggle and wizard murders, which started up a day before I received the request from Japan's Minister for the students to study here. Before I continue, I'd like you to take a look at some of these photographs…"

Dumbledore took up the manila folder, and had only slight trouble unfastening the metal device that kept the flap secure (he'd been practicing). Once the several crime photographs were laid out on the desk top, the small bit of Order positioned themselves around the evidence: gory depictions of barely identifiable human corpses, the skull and torso completely devoid of flesh, the other limbs bearing only some meat. The pictures featured wizards measuring teeth and claw marks in the bones and remaining tissue, only to stand and shake their heads at observers holding clipboards; then the mini-movies started over again.

"As is also well-known among the student body, the three believe in demons – this is to be expected, of course, due to their upbringing. Yet, as I might again point out, it seems almost as if planned, that there would be such claims brought up around the time an unknown breed of creature begins to wreak havoc. Especially since it is one that could well fit the description of the conventional fairy-tale demon."

"Albus, I thought you just proposed that you did not think the boys were with wrong intentions," Snape drawled, fingers lingering over an especially nasty spinal injury.

"Yes, but they very well _could_ be the pawns of someone with something much more devious on their minds."

"You-Know-Who," Shacklebolt said, bitterly. Some of the Headmaster portraits on the wall began a worried muttering.

"No," Dumbledore replied in a forlorn manner, silencing the paintings, "I fear that someone else has stepped onto the chess board – Japan."

The rest of the Order's eyes met each other as they strayed upward, surprise evident there. Minerva had the breath to speak their combined thought aloud, "Spies…"

"It would make perfect sense for Japan, with no attachment to Europe, to wage war on Magical Great Britain when Lord Voldemort," minor flinching ensued, "is also weakening us. After all, these mysterious deaths aren't the only life being lost…"

"But what would they do if they won a war with us? Do they think they'd then be able to defeat the Dark Lord so easily? Or do they think they could bargain with him?" Snape sounded, for the most part, a little bored with Japan's supposed lack of intelligence on the matter of Voldemort's greed – he would either rule everything, or die. The latter of which he had no intention of accomplishing any time soon.

"I do not know that far, Severus. It could even be that I am merely over-analyzing the situation. However, I _do_ have some root to my suspicions. Sorting Hat?"

"Yes, Sir?" Replied the hat, sitting faithfully on an upper shelf donning the wall behind him.

"Please enlighten us on the circumstances that made you place Mr. Minamino in Slytherin."

The Sorting Hat opened the wide tear at the top of its brim and responded severely, "There was another person in that boy's head," Tonks gasped. "He appeared when the boy denied me access to his memories; don't ask me how he and the other two were able to block me out… The voice told me that if I was so desperate to get into Minamino's head, that I could simply ask _him_ to allow me the access; when I did, he showed me a variety of situations in which the boy ruthlessly killed a multitude of the strangest beings, mostly with a whip he wandlessly transfigured from a rose. I was so horrified, I threw myself as far away as I could muster, with that other person laughing at my reaction still in my head, despite that we were no longer connected." It did something of a shiver. "I hate that laugh – it wasn't…somehow…normal. Rather insane."

It fell silent here, and after a few seconds when it became apparent that the hat was finished, McGonagall said, "I've seen Minamino do the wandless magic before – though, it was with a piece of grass. He made it into a sword; it was what he fought Jaganshi with. He transfigured it back to normal again, once I'd banned their spar," She swallowed, and her mouth began into a cold line, "Minamino also told me he could use a whip, made from a rose. That his teacher would have preferred him to fight with this whip, despite the disadvantage this caused Jaganshi."

More quiet, slightly shocked air filled the office. Finally Dumbledore murmured, "I believe this meeting is adjourned. You may leave now, you'll need the sleep, I'm sure."

As the other Order members began to depart, Hagrid stepped up before his desk, "Dumbledore, not t' be disr'spectin' yeh', but those boys Shuichi an' Yusuke don' have a bit o' bad blood in 'em. I've talked wit' them, an' they were fair decent – I ain't known a brighter spirit than Yusuke, an' Minamino's all bows an' smiles. I can't say th' same fer' Hiei, bu' he defends Minamino 'gainst th' Gryffindors an' Slytherins like they're good 'nough friends. Yeh' won' condemn them jus' yet, will yeh'?"

Dumbledore smiled at Hagrid, who had been twisting part of his shirt for the past minute. "I'll try not to, Hagrid. You know I don't like to think badly of my students."

"O' course," He nodded, and then turned to depart. "I'll be seein' yeh', Dumbledore!"

"The same to you, Hagrid. Rest easy."

"Wouldn' we all?"

**lll**

Snape had waited to report until Halloween for the reason that, on the day he was originally scheduled to, Dumbledore had assigned the meeting. The Dark Lord would be cross with him for being late, but he would be grateful for the extra information.

He was just finishing the potion when the Dark Mark on his arm began to burn – if only for him, or for all, he did not know; but it was probably the former. He would find out soon enough.

Taking up his wand, Snape repeated a motion with it over the surface, finally ending the action by saying the correct incantation aloud. The pea-green potion began to swirl, like a miniature whirlpool. As it did so, the liquid began to turn silver, shining in the light of the candles he'd lit to keep him company. All at once, the spinning ceased, and sat there in the caldron, expectantly; he said the next part of the spell and stuck his wand tip-down in the center of the concoction. An exaggerated ripple shot out from the wood, and as it went, the mixture turned color once again – black.

Pulling his wand from the potion, Snape said to his cauldron, "I wish to report to the Dark Lord."

The black color of the liquid disappeared with the flurry of a canvas being thrown from over something – and instead appeared a face; Wormtail.

"Snape!"

"Don't speak so loudly, Idiot. I'm _obviously_ still in Hogwarts."

"The Master is very angry with you!"

"If you will take me to the Dark Lord, I might explain myself. But not to _you_."

Wormtail nodded in a nervous manner, and pointed his own wand at the receptive cauldron, levitating it. It was a minute of careful walking with the object before he delivered Snape into a lavishly decorated room (he could see the ceiling and bits of the walls). Within moments, the Dark Lord's shawl-draped head was before him, only his scarlet eyes showing, in case someone burst into Snape's office. A heavy, lethal snake curled around his shoulders.

"Well, well, well, Snape. I was beginning to _worry_ over you. Where _have_ you been?" His voice was indifferent and sardonic, if not laced with rage.

"I decided to wait communicating with you, as I believed two reports spaced so closely together might be suspicious to Dumbledore. And I am certain you would have wanted to hear the second report."

Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "Who are you to make such assumptions about me?"

"My Lord, Dumbledore called a meeting tonight. He was wishing to speak to us about the foreigners."

Here his eyes widened faintly. "Really?" Ever since the infamous sparing matches, he had become exceedingly interested about the three boys, demanding anything from homework grades to photographs. "Tell me of the conversation…"

"Dumbledore suggested there might be something connected between the mysterious maulings and the foreigners coming here. He thinks that perhaps the Japanese are going to attack Britain while it is also trying to defend itself from you, and that the boys might be spies."

"Hmm…a good military strategy, of course…" Voldemort's eyes narrowed once again, "However, untrue; we know what is eating those people, and the Japanese have nothing to do with it…" His eyes widened abruptly, and he threw his head around to a corner of the room. "_Wormtail_! Have you had that Ministry Official fed to the demons yet?"

Wormtail called out in meager reply, "Y-yes, of course, My Lord. I had not forgot-t-ten."

Voldemort relaxed again, and turned back to stare somewhere below the cauldron. "Anyway," He pondered some more, a hand straying up to stroke the head of the snake, "I think it may be the opposite… If the Japanese are really so careful with their demons, then they must have noticed my summoning…but why would they be hiding…?"

Voldemort turned back to Wormtail, calling, "Send Malfoy to me as quickly as possible, I have things to discuss with him. Take the cauldron with you," Back to Snape, "Severus, because you have brought me this very…_interesting_, information, I won't punish you. But you had _better_ not be late like this _again_ for _quite the while_ without exponential reason. Am I understood?"

"Of course, My Lord."

Voldemort grunted in reply and flicked his forefinger at the cauldron surface; the liquid in Snape's cauldron swirled once more, rapidly turning to black, then silver, then to the mushy pea-green, before settling.

**lll**

"For the _millionth time_, where the _hell_ _is_ the Detective?"

"Calm down, Hiei…I'm sure Yusuke has a good reason for his lateness. Perhaps it has something to do with Graynger-san."

"I just read her _mind_, Kurama! She's been _dreaming_ for at least a half hour!" Hiei snarled in reply, shifting on the tree branch he occupied.

Kurama rubbed his eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh; Yusuke kept his mind barriers up even when he slept, so determining what _he_ was doing at the moment was virtually impossible for Hiei's Jagan eye.

"We'd better go look for him, then, I suppose…" In response, Hiei stood, and Kurama did the same, on a tree opposite Hiei's own. A bird started from its perch as they appeared to vanish – in actuality, they were climbing through the Forbidden Forest, back towards the school, moving faster than any sparrow could comprehend.

They had been sparring, ever since the majority of the Gryffindor and Slytherin houses had fallen asleep, stuffing their beds with pillows and clothing. They'd fought for most of the "waiting for Yusuke" time, but once they'd beaten each other to burned, bloody pulps, the two had take to resting in the trees, mending their wounds, instead.

And, after waiting an hour, Hiei had lost his temper, and after loosing his temper a "million" more times…well, now we've come full circle.

However, about half-way out the Forbidden Forest, the two came upon a sheepish Yusuke carrying a nasty stack of books.

While Yusuke and Hiei sparred, Hiei fighting only to vent off irritation at Yusuke's explanation of lateness, Kurama studied the books Hermione had tediously flipped through. The bread had helped slightly – he could just barely tell where she paused at a page, or when she bypassed an entire chapter.

Once he finished, Kurama stood up, careful of the neat stack he left behind him on the ground, and called out to them. Eventually, with much pulled hair and snarled swearing, he was able to get the battered demons before him.

"All right. Thank Inari you finally stopped," Hiei rolled his eyes. "Yusuke, you're sure these are the only books Graynger-san looked at?"

"'Think so. Why?"

"If this is it, then she's found absolutely nothing. We're fairly safe. _However_," he made a point to look stern, "I think we can all agree, we must _not_, under any circumstances, disclose any more valuable information, lest we are found out. Or worse, of course."

"I'd like to see them _try_ and burn me."

"They have other means, Hiei – you know that, don't act ignorant."

"_Hmph_."

"Also, the other haft of our mission – to eliminate stray demons, Death Eaters, etc – is not going over very well. Neither appear to be coming within even sensing range. Therefore, _we_ must go to _them_; I think that we should venture outside Hogwarts bounds each night and hunt them.

"Now obviously it doesn't take three of us to kill a 'C'-class demon, let alone a human…"

Yusuke flinched a little at this, and he interrupted with, "Kurama, we _really_ won't hafta' kill any humans, right?"

Kurama shook his head. "I'm afraid Koenma-sama specified that Death Eaters were to be disposed of, also." The boy scowled in reply, and muttered something unintelligible.

"Anyway, I think that this will work better in rounds – one of us going out at night individually, past the Hogwarts boundaries to search. It shouldn't be a problem for us to get there, nor, as I said, to slay what we're looking for. Our only worry would be not to be seen and to be back before sunrise, both of which also shouldn't be an issue. Yusuke, you might have more trouble staying awake during the day than Hiei or I," He winced again, "so your shifts should be shorter, as to not attract attention."

"You mean you like me better, right?" Yusuke grinned, "C'mon, Hiei doesn't mind, do ya'?"

"I prefer Hiei's company by a fivefold, really. But anyway," Kurama continued, hiding his own smirk, "the pattern could go several ways – who wants to go first?" Neither of them gave an inclination of the "why-the-frick-not" sort; Kurama sighed. "Fine. I'll go first. Hiei next, and then Yusuke."

"_What_, Fox?"

"Well, neither of you were going to volunteer, so your name goes before Yusuke's. In both instances."

Hiei growled.

"'That all, 'Rama?"

Kurama's turn to flinch. "Yes, but don't call me that."

"Whatever. '_Rama_." Yusuke snickered again, repaying him for the earlier tease.

_Cute _petname_, isn't it, Shuichi? _

"_Yusuke_, stop calling me that, Youko's being nasty about it."

_Pft. Unich._

…_Wait, what?**

* * *

**_

**Footnotes: **

**"A few seconds later, their tree branch lit on fire, due to the ameko's agitation"; Ameko (though only God knows how to effing spell it) translates to "boy of fire". There are two reasons I use it: A) it was used in the uncut anime, so I can (HAH), and B) I was in desperate needs of a synonym for Hiei.  
Not easy to find, oui? **

**"Yusuke had trouble pronouncing 'Hermione'; hence the nickname."; _You_ try pronouncing "Hermione" with a Japanese accent. I sure as hell failed. **

**"Dervish and Banges"; Bleh. Some Hogsmeade shoppe I found on MuggleNet that I figured might sell cigarettes. **

**"'I don't think you want that area _bloody_, Ron.'"; OOC Hermione was tired, Ron was being an ass, and I thought it was funny. So screw me, dabbit. **

**"Once the moving staircase had propelled him to his office door, Dumbledore opened it and stepped through the threshold to be greeted by McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and several aurors; Nymphedora Tonks, and a new recruit whose name escaped him now."; …whose name escaped _me_ now… **

**"'He said that was an accident, that his hand merely slipped on the sakobato, Minerva.'"; Whee. Finally to this one – anyway, Hiei lied to keep his katana. Now, you might be wondering _why_ a sakobato even exists in this, because that dude who created _Rurouni Kenshin_ actually just made up the type of sword…well, how about this just became a RK crossover, too?  
'Really_ Lanie-chan?! Rurouni Kenshin's just my FAVORITE ani_—'  
Ha. No.  
But sakobatos supposedly "exist" in this world now. It's really not much more startling than demons and wizards, anyway… **

**"Hermaphrodite"; Anyway. We all know how much I like to screw with Shuichi-Kurama's manhood.  
But the word in question, for those of you not so schooled in the arts of blasphemy, means someone born with both female and male reproductive organs.  
Yeah. 'Knew I had t' put that in there, oui? **

**"'These have little truth to them; Mr. Urameshi smokes not in the courtyard, but primarily in a girl's bathroom inhabited by the ghost Moaning Myrtle, where he has long, pointless conversations with her, and _well_ after curfew.'"; For those you who…_think differently_, frick _no_, I was _not_ (_notNotNOT_) hinting to a Myrtle/Yusuke paring. As: One, I love Keiko. Yeah, suppose I don't seem like the type of person to, but I do: Two, can't you see Yusuke enjoying a talk with a ghost? He _was_ one, after all: And three, _Myrtle_ and _Yusuke_? The _CRAP_?  
…Ahem.**

**-Salut**


	5. In which there are Heeppogriffus

**Key:  
"Talking – English in an English setting / Japanese in a Japanese setting; Japanese heard by a person who speaks only English and visa-versa."  
'Talking – Any other language than the "text in the quotation marks."'  
****_'Telekinesis'  
Thinking / Conscience _  
**

**Okay, I have some stuff in here that seems kind of incredible stuff at first, but it has an explanation – _believe me_, I am one of those annoying people in the movie theaters who like to shout, "THAT WOULDN'T HAPPEN!" at the screen; _it has an explanation_.  
So hang in there with me, will ya'?**

**Rated T for Teen.

* * *

**

**Chpt. 5  
In which there is a game of Basketball played on Broomsticks and Those Darn Heeppo-grif-fus**

Harry had stayed at the Quiddich pitch longer than the chasers and Ron, helping Peaks with her flying technique, and was therefore just now walking back towards the school, his firebolt over his shoulder.

But they were _ready_ – ready for Sunday and it's match. Everything was perfect – or at least, as close as humanly possible to perfect.

Katie Bell flew well with the two new comers, Ginny and Demelza, who both handled the quaffle able. And while the beaters, Peaks and Coote, _were_ small, they had an aim to envy or fear, depending on your team.

Ron, of course, was the unstable element with his brittle nerves; but with enough coaching, and if he concentrated enough, then he would do fair, if the chasers were apt with the quaffile and the beaters with their bats.

And, of course, if Harry was still as quick to catch the snitch as usual. Practice had said nothing otherwise, but he couldn't help but be a little nervous – he was Team Captain this year, and ever since he'd chosen another of his friends for the team, people had begun to whisper…what if they lost? People would talk even worse.

Oh, well. It couldn't be anything shoddier than what Minamino or Jaganshi, even Urameshi endured every week. Some of the rumors were getting nasty – he'd heard Terry Boot call Minamino a hermaphrodite last Tuesday, and that was _Terry_.

About then he spotted Ginny, already changed into her robes, seated next to a tree and looking to be messing about in the dirt at its roots.

Happy to see her, but curious of her doings, Harry called, "Oi, Ginny!"

She turned to the book bag at her side, pulled out a plastic baggy, and continued on.

"_Ginny_!"

Again, no answer.

"Oi, _Ginny_!" He repeated, getting worried now, "Everything alright?" Ten feet from her, she turned – into Minamino. Being that his hair was shorter now, he looked almost like Ginny from behind; however, now that he'd twisted around, his robe didn't completely block out his uniform, and Harry could tell that he was wearing slacks, not a skirt.

"_Anou_, Hay-ry-san? Were you meaning me?" The tone was light, but his eyes were somewhat weary from the mocking he received. While it might have not been intended, he obviously thought the worst from Harry.

"Uh, no, Minamino, I didn't mean anything," The apology sounded fake in his own ears, and he felt his face beginning to turn red, "I was just…you really…yours and Ginny's hair are the same!" He blurted out finally, again feeling awkward.

Harry simply couldn't relax when speaking with one of the foreigners – it wasn't because he now knew they were stalking him (which, come t' think of it, was probably why the red-head was out here), it was just like some "run" instinct switched on every time they talked alone. His _scar_ had even prickled once.

However, Minamino, to his relief, smiled; dusting off his hands, grabbing his bag to slinging it over his shoulder, the boy replied, "No blood, no foul, Hay-ry-san. You didn't mean any harm – your embarrassment says enough."

Laughing weakly, battering himself for forgetting the other's ability to read faces, Harry finally caught the loose dirt at Minamino's feet.

"What were you planting?"

"Oh, just some Japanese flowers. This tree is lonely, so I decided to give it some company."

…He'd obviously forgotten _why_ the foreigners were teased.

"Er, really? You can tell that?" He felt stupid asking; it was impossible to sense the feelings of plants, they didn't _have_ them.

"Yes," The answer surprised him, and Minamino chuckled at Harry's expression. "I'm a plant master, Hay-ry-san. We can do these things," Here he paused, turning attention to the school, "I must go to Professor MacGon-a-gold's office now. She said she wished to speak to me some time today," As he stood, his balance broke on his left leg, and he knelt back down, wincing.

Harry started, then walked forward a step, asking, "You alright…?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine," He stood again, this time straightening slower and without fault. "But would you tell Hiei something for me, Hay-ry-san, since I assume you're going back to your Common Room?"

"Oh, um, sure. What is it?"

"'_Teme_.'"

Harry blinked. "What?"

Minamino repeated the word, stressing the syllables, "'_Tay-may._'"

"Just, '_tay-may_'? What does it mean?"

Minamino winked, following it up with, "It's a secret."

"Er, um, right."

Definitely a reason why Terry called Minamino a hermaphrodite.

**lll**

"Uh, Hiei?"

The boy turned his head sharply, glaring at Harry as soon as their eyes met.

He didn't speak, the glower inclination enough for Harry to say whatever he wanted, and then let him go back to staring moodily out the window of the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Minamino-san wanted me to tell you something."

His eyebrows lifted faintly.

"'_Tay-may_.'"

There was a pause, and then Hiei gave an abnormal snicker, almost making Harry jump.

As he turned back to the window and began to ignore him, Harry asked, "What does it mean?"

"'You bastard,'" There was still traces of humor in his voice.

Harry processed this a little slowly as he turned away – _Why would Minamino be calling Hiei a bastard?_ But then, what about Minamino's limp? The boy had giving him the message, right after he'd provoked whatever injury he'd somehow received; so did that mean Hiei had given it to him? If so, _why_?

His subconscious answered with, _Sparring._

Sparring.

Were they _still_ sparring?

"Oi, Ron, Hermione!"

Looking up from a text book, Ron following her gaze, Hermione replied, "Yes, Harry?"

"Let's stay up tonight – I wanna' discuss some homework," Harry raised his eyebrows as he said the last word, and something clicked in both of their eyes.

"Oh, sure."

"Yeah, fine wit' me."

**lll**

"Isn't he a _beaut_', 'Arry?"

_Oh damn_. "Er, yeah, Hagrid!"

Buckbeak, while certainly a loyal, _interesting_ (he used that word very loosely) creature, he was still an intimidating (and rightly so) sight. He and the hippogriff herd behind him were supposed to be the animals examined by the fifth years the following Monday (but not before a quick safety lesson).

It had been at breakfast when Hagrid had come to Harry and Ron (due to their conversation the night before, Hermione was once again captive of the library), requesting they see the hippogriff. Being that, ever since Sirius's death, the Grimmauld Place had become even more business-oriented, Buckbeak (now known as "Witherwings") had been given back to Hagrid, under the decision that no one would remember the creature.

And so far, the students walking past "Witherwings" stared at the hippogriff with apprehension free from recognition.

"I was so excit'd when Dumbledore let me 'ave 'im back!" Hagrid replied a little too loudly, "An' 'e's jus' so happy ter' see me, ain't ya', Beaky?"

While Hagrid was nuzzling his cheek against Buckbeak's feathery head, Harry and Ron turned to the call of, "Oi, what are _those_?"

It was Yusuke, gaping _admiringly_ at the hippogriff (who had begun to paw the ground at sight of him), and jogged towards them with an almost inhuman speed for his effort. As he neared, Harry saw he had a letter in hand.

"It's a hippogriff."

"_Wow_, is it a type of demon or something?" He asked as he stopped beside Ron.

"No, it's just…well, a hippogriff," Ron finished somewhat lamely, making Harry smirk, "It's not actually _classified_, I guess…"

"Act'ully, its scientific name's 'haliaeetus caballus' Ron!"

Harry had supposed that this would have made Yusuke speculative, this lethal-looking creature and the giant man coddling it, but the boy merely beamed, "Oh, _awesome_! If Puu looked like _that_, _I_ wouldn't mind at all. S'pose Keiko might, though…"

"Who's Puu and Keiko?" Ron replied, raising his eyebrows at the foreign names.

But Yusuke seemingly didn't hear the question, asking, "Oi, Haygreed, you mind if I pet your…heeppo-grif-fu?"

"No, not at all!" He replied jubilantly, excited by Yusuke's unprovoked interest, "What yeh' hafta' do firs' is bow t' Buck- er, _Witherwings_, an' keep eye contact while yeh' do it. Don't blink. Wait fer' him t' bow back, an' if he don', get away real quick."

"Sure," Was the answer, and then the boy sunk low into a bow, head up and eyes determinedly locked onto Buckbeak's, who was still shifting nervously.

After a tentative moment, Buckbeak dipped into his own bow, and Yusuke straightened, grinning. Buckbeak, however, did not come out of the bow, his eyes surveying Yusuke cautiously.

"Good, then, yeh' can pet 'im!" Hagrid, apparently unbothered by the hippogriff's meekness, stroked the creature's great wing affectionately.

Moving forward, Yusuke stretched out his free hand, fingers brushing against the beast's head.

This, however, seemed the worst possible thing he could have done – Buckbeak unexpectedly flung upward onto his hind legs, throwing his front talons out in protest, coupled with a harsh eagle's cry.

Yusuke had enough time to cross his arms in front of his face before the claws ripped into his flesh and sent him flying back, the letter now caught in the eagle's chain mail fore feet.

A third year behind them began screaming as Buckbeak leapt after the boy, unhindered by Hagrid's grab on his collar, beak posed for another attack.

Harry was drawing his wand as Yusuke did something peculiar – he uncrossed his arms, which blurred they moved so quickly, and his right hand formed a gun with his forefinger and thumb, the left wrapping around the wrist. When he thought the hippogriff was going to descend upon the boy, a teal tip of light formed at the end of the forefinger, and then was _shot_ – Yusuke's hands kicked back like a gun and everything – right into Buckbeak's chest.

For a second, Harry thought the mini-bullet was going to pierce through the bird, but he flew backward, with the punch of getting hit with something much larger. Buckbeak landed on his side, several meters away, and quickly began to stand. By the time Hagrid was restraining the creature, towing him towards the also troubled herd, Yusuke had hit the ground and was sitting up, holding his gored arms in front of him gingerly.

"Whoo! 'Guess it doesn't like me very much, eh?" And then he began to _laugh_.

"_What the__ bloody Hell_?" Ron spoke Harry's feelings, over the now universal female screaming and disturbed calls of hippogriffs.

"Eh, animals never _have_ liked me very much, I guess… Didn't think it'd attack me, though," Here he frowned, surveying his shredded skin with distaste.

"What was that thing that came out of your finger?" Harry half-yelled, hurrying over with Ron to help him up.

"Oh, that was my…Spirit Gun, think you'd call it. Ya' know how we all have these weapons, like Hiei with his fire and Kurama with his plants? _I_ specialize in guns," He grinned roguishly as they hauled him up under his shoulders, "But don't worry, I set it on stun when I shot Witter-wingsu, he'll be fine," Then he cleared his throat, continuing, "But, er, could I have…?"

"U-_Urameshi_!" The trio's heads snapped to notice as Hagrid came stomping over, unusually pale in the face, a controlled Buckbeak behind him. "Wh-what, you…are yeh' _alrigh_'?" He finally decided on, slumping a little.

"Oi, are you _kidding_ me?" Yusuke laughed, again, "Yeah, I've been through worse than _that_! Try getting hit by a car and being beaten half t' death by a crazy-ass human! Now _that _hurts…"

"W-well, in any case, I s'pose yeh should get to th' Hospital Wing… S'okay, you two, I got 'im…" Hagrid continued, still rather defeated.

"Oi, Haygreed, could I have that letter?"

"What? Why? Is it important?" The half-giant turned rather half-heartedly to the muddy, scrappy paper, now lying in the hippogriff pen.

"Er, well, kind-kinda'…" Yusuke was starting to look a little nervous now.

"Well, I guess I'll…I'll go back in…" The gamekeeper began to mournfully trot over to the cage, but Yusuke, looking repentant, called him back.

"It's okay, I can live without it!" Hagrid, still sullen, made his way back, and Yusuke asked, tentatively, "What's the matter, Haygreed?"

His front finally broke down and he wailed, burying his great, shaggy head in his hands.

"Oi, oi, _oi_! None of that, none of _that_! Here, I can walk by myself, see?"

**lll**

'_Dammit_!'

Hiei and Kurama looked up from where they were eating lunch to see Yusuke slam himself before them on the bench.

'Yusuke?'

'_I lost my pay-check_! I was going outside t' go into the forest, 'coz I left my bag in there last night, and I saw this big thing that was half bird and half horse…!"

'Pft.'

'_Seriously_!' Yusuke growled in response to Hiei's snub, 'It was Haygreed's. And I'd just gone t' pet it, and it went and ripped up my arms,' He held up his arms to show some nasty-looking, half-healed scars, 'and got my pay check stuck in its claws! I just got back from Pomfrey.'

There was a short silence before Yusuke interrupted it again with, 'What, you haven't heard about it yet? There was people screaming and everything.'

'Well, after you left, we went to the dungeons,' Kurama said, 'I was feeling sore towards Snape-sensei, so I took some of his herbs instead of just growing my own.

'In other words, we didn't hear anything. But why didn't you just get your paycheck back from the heeppo-gryf-fu?'

Yusuke stared at Kurama, while Hiei gave a snort.

'What?'

'How d'_you_ know what it was called?'

'I'm a bit cleverer than you assume, Yusuke,' He answered dryly.

'Oh. Welll…Haygreed led the thing back into this pen full of 'em. I couldn't get it back, 'cause then I'd have all _those_ attacking me, and they were already half scared out of their minds…guess I'm still not used to the fact I'm creepy now…'

'Don't sound so forlorn, it's the only thing keeping the centaurs from running us out of the forest every time we spar,' Once again, Yusuke assumed a blank look as Kurama continued, 'Whatever happened to Haygreed-san? Why couldn't he get it for you?'

'Hah, you should've _seen_ him – he was bawling like a little kid, he was so freaked out that he'd get his heeppo-gryf-fus taken away 'cause of the attack. But I calmed him down, and we went to Dobbu-dore after I got cleaned up, and he said everything would be alright, 'cause I wasn't suing,' Yusuke grinned, 'Guy was so happy, he woulda' crushed me if I was human. Those giants are somthin', man.'

'…Your point?'

'Oh! Well, he was so upset at the time, I didn't want t' impose too much…'

Kurama sighed.

'Plus, he asked me what it was, and I didn't want to explain, either.'

'You'll steal it back, of course?'

'Can't _you_, oh brilliant Prince of Thieves?'

Kurama gave Yusuke a look, which he returned, and replied, 'It's not my responsibility.'

'_But_–,'

'Were you a Ninginkai-class pickpocket or not?'

Yusuke scowled, '_Ninginkai_-class?'

'But of course,' And the demon smirked, '_I_ am the Prince of Thieves.'

The haughty pause lasted only a moment before, 'Pft. _Was_.'

'Shut up, Hiei.'

**lll**

"I'm _telling you_, Hagrid, there is something _wrong_ with the foreigners!"

"Yeah, an' there was somethin' _wrong_ with Professor Snape, too! But you were proved otherwise, _righ_'?"

"Hagrid, we're _sure_ this time!" Hermione continued, sounding desperate, "We've got so much evidence, and I haven't even shown you it all!"

"Yeh got yer Hogsmeade scheme, yer sparring idea, even a _Dark Mark_ on Minamino's shoulder!" Hagrid counted off the possibilities one his left hand, "What _else _could you've concocted?"

Hermione sighed, exchanging glances with Harry and Ron, and then pulled out the book, _A Guild to the Three Worlds_, handing it to him.

By the end of his flipping through the paperback, Hagrid's mouth was gaping and his eyes were wide. But when he threw it down on the table, the first words out of his mouth were, "_Where in Sam hell did ya' get that_?", not, "_You three are positively and absolutely correct_!"

Overall, it was the expected reaction.

"At…at the library."

"OH? Which teacher let you take this outta' the _restricted section_?" Hermione flinched.

"I didn't exactly…ask…"

Hagrid sat down, rather heavily, in a chair at his table. "Yeh _stole_?"

"Hagrid, not to interrupt, but this is a bit more important than stealing," Harry said, catching his attention, "The foreigners stalk us – _me_, individually. I'm surprised there's not one with me now! Minamino told me to call Hiei a bastard because his leg hurt, so they probably _are_ still sparring.

"And we've seen Yusuke and Hiei's shoulders plenty of times, they don't care about going about without shirts on, _and_ they're in our dormitory. But we don't know about Minamino, because he's not in our house, and he's never taken off his shirt in public."

"Yeh mean like a _normal_ person?"

"Like when they first sparred, Hagrid. He had to have known his sweater was going to be cut up, but he didn't care – and it was really _warm_ that day, too. _Plus_," He continued, talking over Hagrid's open mouth, "Yusuke and Hiei do almost whatever Minamino tells them to. Maybe that's because they respect him, because _he's_ a member of the Death Eaters, and they aren't yet?"

"Or _maybe_ some o' those rumors are _true_," Everyone in cabin went into a brittle, instant shock.

"…Ah, forget I said that!"

"That actually…makes _sense_ on some levels…" Hermione muttered.

"Seriously you three, that was a very…very rude thing t' say! Don' you go repeatin' it to…!"

There was a knock on the door, and everyone jumped.

Hagrid lifted himself out of his seat and hobbled over to said door, opening it.

Minamino stood on the threshold, his smile a little worn. There was a muscle going in his temple, which he quickly rubbed away as he said, "Haygreed-san, I was just coming to ask about those flowers you promised me."

"Oh, er, yeah, those, o' course…" He shuffled away towards the backdoor, his face beet-red.

And he left the book in open sight upon the table.

Minamino's eyes quickly found the volume, started at the cover, and blinked up at Hermione blankly as she snatched it into her bag.

After a moment, his eyes narrowed.

Harry stood up, going to reason with him, but he merely turned on his heel, and ran back up to the castle.

"Oh _shit_, he knows!" Ron belted out just as Hagrid reentered his hut, jumping as he heard the sentence, a destroyed piece of paper and a small package of seeds in his hand.

"'_Scuse_ _me_, Ron?" The gamekeeper bellowed, glaring at the boy. Then he looked up to the empty doorway and said, confused, "Where'd Minamino go?"

"He saw the book, Hagrid!" Hermione replied, "He ran away as soon as he saw it!"

"…_What_? That don't make sense, now!"

"It makes perfect sense," She insisted, gravely, "if they really are hiding something."

"But that book doesn't prove anything except that the rest of the Japanese think like _they_ do!" Hagrid began twisting his apron.

Hermione's eyebrows furrowed for a moment, and then she slammed her hand on the table, half-yelling, "_The Japanese are a conspiracy_!"

Hagrid, to their amazement, made squeaking noise, and fainted.

**lll**

There was a knock on the Gryffindor portrait door.

There was a _knock_ on the Gryffindor portrait door.

"Erm…" Lavender and Parvati looked at each other, uncertainty written in their eyes, and Lavender stood up, crossed the short space between their set of chairs and the door, and opened it, asking, "Who…?" Then she gasped.

Before her stood Shuichi Minamino, smiling at her apologetically.

_Tee hee hee!_

"Brown-chan," She felt her face blush automatically, "is Hiei or Yusuke in there? I cannot seem to find them anywhere else."

"Oh, er, I think we saw Yusuke come in a little while ago…right, Parvati?" Lavender turned to her friend, who was eyeing the Slytherin critically, and gave her a "Well?" sort of look.

"…Yeah, sure," She finally agreed, crossing her arms.

"Oh, thank you. Could you call him down for me, please?"

Lavender turned back to the visitor and cooed, "Sure, Minamino-kun! Could you hold on just a _tiny_ second?" She tried to look cute as she said this.

"Of course, Brown-chan," His smile turned…_very_ pretty.

"'Kay! Just a sec!"

And she turned, trotting up the boy's staircase, grinning hopefully at the glowering Parvati as she passed her.

Lavender arrived with Yusuke a moment later, her mood up-lifting when he winked at Minamino, smirking, as she called Minamino "awfully sweet" in parting.

"That's the way guys tell each other that they're lucky, _right_?"

Parvati sighed, "I _guess_ so…but I hear Cho likes him, too. You've probably gotta' step it up if you want him to go out with you."

Lavender's eyes narrowed.

And so continued the fretful troubles of simple teenage girls.

**lll**

'For the last time, will you quit your sniggering? This is more important!'

'Sorry, man, but I feel _really_ bad for you!'

'And _that _is why you are laughing," Yusuke let out another short cackle for affect. 'But anyway, _Yusuke_, you didn't do a very good job screening Graynger the other night.'

He stopped his chortling. 'Why?'

'Because, I just went to Haygreed-san's cabin, and they had a book on the table; _A Guild to the Three Worlds_?'

Yusuke's face began to pale. '_What_…?'

'We need to find out what they know. More importantly, we need to destroy that book,' Kurama began pacing the empty classroom they were in. 'Yusuke?'

'Yeah?'

'There's a Quiddich match tomorrow.'

'_Yeah_?'

'So, everyone should be there – even Graynger, as Ron and Hayry are playing against Ravenclaw.'

'Oh yeah, they're on Gryffindor's team, aren't they?'

'Yes. Now, what do you suppose the chances are of her bringing that book with her?'

Something clicked in his eyes, before he monotoned, 'You want me to steal that book, don't you?'

'It would be an excellent time to get your paycheck back, as well. You could wait back in the Common Room, take it, and then go retrieve your letter,' Kurama glanced up at Yusuke, 'You _can_ get it without disturbing the heeppo-grif-fus, correct?'

'Sure.'

'Good.'

'…Hey, Kurama?'

'_Yes_?'

'Why can't you do it for me again? I _really_ wanna' see the match, it sounds like a cool sport.'

'You'll see. Or rather, hear.'

'…Why d'you always speak in riddles?'

Kurama sighed.

**lll**

It seemed Harry and Ron were the only two nervous on this bitter Sunday.

"C'mon, team, let's…let's go out there and win!" He tried to sound encouraging, and Peaks and Demelza looked determined enough, but Katie Bell snorted.

"Nervous, Harry?" She whispered, just loud enough for him to hear, as they stepped onto the Quiddich field.

"What gave you that idea?" He joked, wearing a feeble smile, giving a shrug. Katie smirked back.

Once Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had lined up, brooms ready, about Madam Hooch, she recited her don't-you-dare-kill-each-other speech. Harry kept his gaze carefully away from Cho's.

The snitch was released, the quaffle was thrown, and the whistle screamed shrill in the windy sky.

Fourteen players flew up into the air, and as Harry twisted upward, he heard a familiar voice calling pleasantly over the loud speaker…

"Weasody with the quaffu, passes to Demedez – _itai_, Demedez is hit with a budgor from Pendragon…Hayring picks up the quaffu…"

Harry turned around so fast his broom fishtailed. There, in the announcer's booth, seated next to Professor McGonagall, was a mane of red hair.

That's_ what McGonagall wanted to talk to him about!_

Harry stared as Minamino continued his commentary, snapping out of the daze as he said, "…Ravenclaw scores, 10-0, Bayl with the quaffu…"

_C'mon, Ron_… If he listened hard enough, he thought he could hear the Slytherin's usual chant, paired with calls of "_Quaffu_!"

But then he began circling the field, eyes pining for anything with a sparkle.

It was 30-20, Ravenclaw leading, when Harry first heard the faint sound – like a huge flock of birds, raving.

As he looked up, gasping already, he saw a pulsing flock of what faintly resembled hippogriffs – from this far away it was hazy. Individuals joined the group from the ground while it progressed over the forbidden forest.

But then, three other winged somethings, smaller this time, flew straight upwards, out of the trees. It drove them back – first towards the castle, then down a bit, and then…headingfor the stadium.

Not all noticed this at once – the audience's cheers merely calmed slightly, most more concerned about where the eerie noise was coming from at the moment. Minamino's speaking had slowed, before disappearing all together, replaced by a single gasp.

Though the spectators were bothered by this, and their angry cries could be heard around the pitch, the other players had also stopped their game, long before Madam Hooch blew her whistle for a time out. Even when she did, few team members floated downward, favoring to stare, transfixed, at the wreathing mass of hippogriffs that was becoming dangerously clear. Ron and Ginny were some of the few, and they motioned in vain for Harry to come with them.

It was now quite obvious to the entirety of the arena what was happening, and that there was several somethings flying, something _green_, herding them. The teacher's stands were now active with motion, professors and aurors preparing to restrain the animals.

And then the stadium burst into life again, worried, as the announcer called, "If you will excuse the inconvenience, the match is now canceled, and will be rescheduled as soon as possible. Please head to ground level in an orderly fashion immediately, and a teacher will help to lead you safely to the castle. Do not attempt to go without accompaniment," The voice, once resembling that of an infomercial narrator, changed drastically into a harder version, "_Hiei, __now_."

Harry's attention swiveled from the coming mass to the red head – who wasn't in his seat any longer. In fact, Professor McGonagall was bellowing in a harassed tone into the microphone, "_Mr. Minamino_, get your_ sorry __backside_ back here _this __instant _or I'll…"

But she hadn't time to finish – the first creatures had ascended upon the stadium, and a hippogriff had taken one of its great talons and ripped the canvas roof off the announcer's tower.

McGonagall stunned it, yelling the incantation to give it an extra kick, and it fell fifty feet to the ground, landing on its back.

But the other hippogriffs, still provoked by the flying green men (it sounded ridiculous, be he hadn't any other name of them), were spreading through the stadium faster than the personnel could take to the sky on brooms.

One of the creatures was chasing a Ravenclaw player, beak almost to snapping on her shiny black hair.

_Cho_… Harry, while no longer with any emotion but embarrassment towards her, felt his stomach drop – her broom wasn't nearly fast enough, being an older model, she would be…

About then, a green rope flew from the ground to wrap around the hind leg of the creature, yanking it downwards and causing it to shriek in distress. Harry stared in shock as a red head, who had been fighting the hippogriff downwards, suddenly allowed himself to be lifted into the air. Cho looped around and, as the hippogriff flew straight up into the sky, steadied her broom next to Minamino; using the rope, he swung himself onto the broom, keeping a hold of the line.

Now that there wasn't as much weight relying on its foot, the hippogriff leveled out, and began at a lower altitude towards the Slytherin section of the arena. Harry's attention snapped from the pair that were slowly coming parallel with the beast, to somewhere behind him when the crowd went into a vociferous roar – half terrified, half applauding.

There was a green man – now, dead – falling in halves to the ground below. A portion of the hippogriffs took sudden leave of the stadium, heading for the Forbidden Forest – but Harry's concentration was still firmly on the previous scare; there was a small, black-haired figure baring a thin, shining sword as he flew on a broomstick, carrying a red-headed Gryffindor player behind him, away from where the corpse was now hitting the ground.

Hiei's course took him to the abandoned Cho and Minamino; from his position, Cho looked like she was going to fall off the broom, while Minamino held her in place, the hippogriff they had been roping absent. Below them, Harry saw, was what had drawn Hiei to their spot – another of the green men. One of its wings had been chopped off, and it was dragging itself along the grass of the stadium, the other limb now useless.

How Minamino had achieved this with just a rope was a fleeting question, as he observed what happened next; Hiei, steering for the wounded thing, misinterpreted the state of it and it dove out of the way of his sword – but, not to be detoured, he preformed a 360 degree turn naught six feet from his missed target, throwing the unsuspecting Ginny off into a barrel roll, and shoved his weapon into the back of the creature as he returned.

Marveling at the boy's reaction time while simultaneously scolding him for possibly hurting Ginny, Harry winced as, due to the major fishtailing that such a move required, Hiei, too, was thrown off the broom sideways; the broom continued on, flying into the ground at full speed, snapping in two when it hit. That was the end of Ginny's Cleansweep.

At the second death, even more of the hippogriffs deserted the humans they had been terrorizing, instead making for the forest. Harry had begun to wonder where the remaining offender was, when he heard an eagle's screech sound dangerously behind him, and felt a claw rip into his shoulder blade.

He didn't even have time to turn, but he knew exactly what had happened when he finally did; the third green creature (up close he saw it only vaguely resembled a human, a third eye positioned in the center of its forehead) was riding a hippogriff, and below them, pushing the two directly upward, was a giant, comet-like object, glowing with a teal light. They were forced farther and farther up until they passed into the clouds and disappeared from sight.

Any remaining hippogriffs that were not wounded fled.

Harry looked, wincing and gasping as he grasped his right arm, to the ground; Yusuke stood braced thirty feet down, his robes filthy with mud and one of his hands formed into a gun.

He grinned cockily as he yelled up to him, "And _that_, Hayry, was _not_ on stun."

**

* * *

Footnotes:**

**"Some of the rumors were getting nasty – he'd heard Terry Boot call Minamino a hermaphrodite last Tuesday, and that was _Terry_,"; Terry Boot is a very pleasant Ravenclaw, thus it is unusual that he would be mean to anyone – even a Slytherin. **

**"'Teme,'"; I think it means either "bastard," or, "you bastard." And yes, for the purpose of that scene, I used a Japanese word.  
Whee.  
Look at the hypocrisy. **

**"Witherwings"; I think that's what he's called – I'm not sure, I couldn't find it anywhere to confirm it – my sixth book ran away.  
Oh well. Dumbledore effing dies. I didn't need it anyway. **

**"Yeah, I've been through worse than _that_! Try getting hit by a car and being beaten half t' death by a crazy-ass human! Now _that _hurts…"; Yusuke was referring to the two times he died – but of course he wouldn't say that he actually _died_, so…**

**"'Those giants are somthin', man,'"; If you hadn't guessed already, the (the Boys) could tell that Hagrid wasn't completely human, by aura, smell, whichever form of identification you would prefer. Kurama, being the allow-knowing genius-1000-year-old-yoko he is, told them that he was part giant – and accordingly they know. **

**"Hagrid, to their amazement, made squeaking noise, and fainted."; I know you'll find out in the next chapter, but because you might not remember the incident by then – if you'll recall, Hagrid (being an Order of the Phoenix member) attended that last meeting held by Dumbledore. So he knows Dumbledore's theory of "the Japanese might be planning to invade us"; and Hermione had just said, "the Japanese are a conspiracy."  
Same thing, oui?  
So, he was amazed that she had come to that deduction. Very amazed.  
Oh, I truly do feel sorry for Yusuke. I really didn't mean for him to screw up so much, but it's making the plot delicious. If I may compare my two favorite pastimes. XP**

**"Lavender turned back to the visitor and cooed, "Sure, Minamino-kun! Could you hold on just a _tiny_ second?" She tried to look cute as she said this."; Oh gods, one of you female readers help me.  
I.e., how the hell does one flirt?  
…To sum up my situation in a sentence, my mother used to love taking tests.  
Seriously, if one of you could tell me how shallow little…  
Okay, never mind, _I'm_ shallow; could one of you tell me how guy-obsessed teases work when teasing, I would be _very_ happy. I'm not a _real_ girl, after all. Just a prototype.**

**"If he listened hard enough, he thought he could hear the Slytherin's usual chant, paired with calls of "_Quaffu_!"; That is an effing awesome word.  
It's so effing awesome, it's almost more effing awesome than douche (_tee hee)_ and the way the British say "Tuesday."**

**NOTE: Guess what? I had an epiphany.  
Ya' see, this chapter originally had about, hmm, I'll guess anywhere from three to ten pages I've yet to finish writing tacked on at the end.  
I was sitting there, moaning over the fact I hadn't updated in two effing months and that I _really_ needed to get this through with, and then it came to me – _normal Fanficers don't have eighty pages in five chapters_! So no one was going to lynch me if I did twelve pages instead of twenty!  
…Yeah, I have this thing about ending on just this scene…but I figured you lot would like it better if I finished it this weekend rather than next.  
So. **

**Happy Mother's Day,  
I think that's all I wanted,  
Salut- **


	6. In which there is much War

**Key:  
****"Talking – English in an English setting / Japanese in a Japanese setting; Japanese heard by a person who speaks only English and visa-versa."  
****'Talking – Any other language than the "text in the quotation marks."'  
****_'Telekinesis'  
_****_Thinking / Conscience _**

**And I bet you people thought I was abandoning this.  
****Ha ha ha. You're all adorable.  
**_**Adorable.  
**_**Dearies, I've not even busted two hundred pages on this, and it'd be a blow to my ego to abandon this prematurely.  
****That and I've practically already written everything mentally. It's just pulling all the ideas together I'm taking my time on.  
****Specifically, I decided that this chapter was too icky to post, so I failed to post it before I clicked my red buckled shoes home.  
****Just last night I got suckled into a tornado, landed in Oz, saw my baby (but then she had to go to soccer practice, dabbit), came home, polished this up, and poof; it's posted.  
****Anyway. Enjoy the blab.**

**I made cookies today.  
Okay, two months ago, but humor me.  
Only one batch burned. Le Squee.  
I mean, ever since that incident where I almost blew up the kitchen via microwave and soup, I thought my cheffary (that is _so_ a word) skills were shit. But I still suffered casualties.  
You see, my hair, it's very long. A little over mid-back. And I hate pulling it back, sideways, forward, any direction you can think of. So of course, I wasn't wearing it up when I was mixing the cookie batter.  
With an electronic mixer. Damn thing's older than _I_ am, but it still managed to twist itself up on a string of my hair to gouge my forehead.  
Only slightly, but gouged none-the-less.  
When I walked into the living room, bleeding all over the cookie dough on the beaters, my mom screamed. It was hilarious.  
Unfortunately, she wouldn't let me lick them afterwards. Something about vampirism.  
****_Psht.  
_…Sadly, it seems that for all my effort, I'm not able to distribute them between my wonderful readers, as none of you've guessed my newest contest (which officially ends now, btw). I know I promised muffins – but it doesn't matter now anyway, now does it? And _my_ cookies, that I _bled_ on, are ten times better than _any_ muffin.  
Hey, worked for Jesus, right?  
And if you _really_ want t' know the answer…it was from the book, 'The Book Thief.' Before all you Kurama fans start hyperventilating, it's not like that. At all. It's like 'The Thief Lord,' except the thief is actually a _thief_–thief (fucking pampered little pansy ruined the book for me) and it's narrated by Death.  
Who's astounding, amazing, and amiable. And those are only the A's. :D  
Anyway, you should read the book. And another book the author (Markus Zuzack) wrote (as it's by far my favorite of the two), 'I Am the Messenger' – 'The Messenger' in Kiwi-a-gogo land (damn, and I could start another contest, but it'd prolly be no different than the last couple…) Awesome books; if you can find the time, read them.  
…Dude, it's like Oprah, except with a smexier summer reading list (winter, whatever).  
…Oh good god it's like Oprah. **

**Rated T for Teen**

* * *

**Chpt. 6  
In which there is much War, Banditry, and Cheatery, in That Order **

_Have I ever mentioned that your maddening chivalry always seems to land us in the deepest shit? _

"I quite hope you five can explain yourselves."

_Wasn't _Kuronue _that way?_

"Dome-al-dore-sensei," Kurama began in his most sincere, do-my-bidding tone, "Chang-chan and Weasody-san were not involved at all; they were merely following our directions. You shouldn't punish–"

"I shall decide that for myself, Mr. Minamino, when I have assessed as to why all of you decided to take on a flock of fanatical hippogriffs and three–"

"–_Demons_," Yusuke interjected.

"Demons," Dumbledore allowed, "when you were given specific instructions to flee the outer stadium."

Him_ again, mmm? _

"Now, Mr. Minamino, please tell me what possessed you to scale down the announcer's podium," Cho, who had been nervously twisting her quiddich robes, jerked her head up to stare at Kurama with awe, "and use your…"

"Rosewhip," _Answer my question._

"…To amputate the wing of a demon."

"I actually didn't mean to catch its wing – that was kind of messy of me."

Hiei snorted beside Yusuke and echoed in the three's minds; '_"Kind of" doesn't even cover it._'

"I was aiming for its head. But the broomstick jolted in the wind when I lashed out, thus…" The portraits on the wall began to whisper to each other critically at Kurama's statement, "But I tried to kill it because if we hadn't acted, many more people would have been injured; even killed."

_He was much better at it than _you.

"Whatever made you think that _we_ couldn't handle it?"

"You can't kill a demon with merely a flick of your wand – it's not quite _that_ simple – and the more time a demon runs free, the more destruction it causes. We were ready far quicker than some of the aurors, so I decided we would handle it."

Some of the usual bemused twinkle left Dumbledore's eye as he continued, "And what if any of you had gotten hurt?"

"Dome-al-dore-sensei, the chances of us getting injured by any 'D'-class demon are extremely low. We're trained to handle 'B'-class, you see, so such a small ranking is quite elementary."

There was a long pause in which the headmaster stared at the five of them rather gravely. Then he spoke, "Mr. Urameshi?"

"Yeah, sensei?"

"You heard Mr. Minamino's order to kill?"

"Sure."

"And you followed through with it."

"Yeah – Kurama always knows what he's doin'. If he thinks we need to attack something, I'll do it. Hell, _Hiei_'ll do it," Yusuke shrugged, "We trust him like that."

Youko snorted. _Silly boy. Why are you friends with him again?_

_Shh_.

"Hmm. I suppose then that Mr. Jaganshi will give me the same answer," Hiei rolled his eyes, "Ms. Chang?"

"Headmaster, I couldn't just leave Minamino-kun hanging there…so I flew around and caught him. When he asked, I went after the demon, because," She swallowed, before continuing, "I, I trust him, too."

Another snort. He was sounding too much like Hiei. _And someone told me adolescent females were complicated. You've done well manipulating her. _

"And, Ms. Weasley?"

"Well, I'd grounded, and Hiei wanted my broom so he could go help Minamino. But I didn't want him to _crash it_," She glared death at Hiei, who returned the gesture accordingly, "so I made him let me ride behind him, so I could tell him how to work it. I didn't make him do anything else."

"All right, then. Ms. Chang, Ms. Weasley, you will serve detentions with Professor McGonagall starting this week, and I will be writing to your parents. Please head to her office now to sort out an appropriate time."

"Yes, Professor." The two left obediently, Cho glancing behind her worriedly as she went.

Dumbledore sighed when the door closed, and he leaned back in his seat. He didn't take his eyes off of Kurama.

_He's challenging us, Shuichi_.

_Youko_, He mused wryly, _were you paying attention when I read 'The Lord of the Rings'?_

That_ insipid concoction? _

_What a shame, I think you'd've enjoyed it_.

"I must admit, it has yet to cease amazing me at how much more dilemmas evolve the longer I live."

_That makes two of us, Human. _

"I will not go as far as to expel you – though mind, another escapade like _this_ and I fear I shall be forced to – but you _will_ suffer the same punishments as Ms. Weasley and Ms. Chang.

"However, there are some _other_ things that I simply must take care of; I want you all to know, that you are hereby prohibited from using your Japanese magic while at Hogwarts. That includes any growing of planets, no matter how innocent they may be," Kurama felt a flare of anger in his chest that was only partially his. "Also – Mr. Jaganshi?"

Hiei didn't verbally answer, merely narrowing his eyes.

"Please give me your sword. I'll owl it back to your guardians."

"_What_?"

Dumbledore continued somberly, "I'm sorry, but you really mustn't think me fool enough as to believe your 'sakobato' isn't lethal when you just destroyed two living creatures with it."

Youko tutted_. Tell Hiei to hand it over; we'll just steal it back for him tonight_.

_Taking pity on him, now? _

_No, but we'll most certainly be needing it_._ Don't act dense, it's not your nature_.

The two were watching each other intently for a good minute before Hiei stonily began to untie the sash that attached the katana scabbard to his pants. He must have shared Youko's idea.

Once Hiei had tossed over his heavy weapon, looking something livid, Dumbledore turned to Yusuke and said, "Give me your cigarettes."

"A-anou, but! Tha-that's, they're not _dangerous_!"

"But it _is_ illegal, Mr. Urameshi."

The boy began to work his mouth at the old man, who stared calmly back. Eventually, Yusuke found himself pegging the teacher with a half-used package of smokes. His eyes, quite similar to Hiei's, spoke multitudes of words too inappropriate to use towards a sensei.

Youko chuckled, stopping abruptly as Dumbledore turned, ultimately, to Kurama.

_I bet he has you cut your hair. Then we'll have to sow our seeds into your robes_.

But he might as well have asked just that.

"I understand the only weapons you carry you cannot use without your – ki, was it? But to punish you anyway, I want every seed you carry on your person. Right now."

There was definitely going to be war. A damn big one.

**lll**

Hiei was in a pickle, if he dared to use such a frivolous expression.

_All _he'd done – _ALL_ – was force that Weasley girl to lend him her flying stick and cut up a few "D"-class demons.

And now, as reward for his efforts, not _only_ had his katana been confiscated (which really didn't matter, he was stealing it back that night), he got to deal with the Potter boy.

Fun, _fun_.

"For the single, _last_ time, Potter, _no_."

"Hiei," Harry continued, face set in a serious mold, "The new match is scheduled for Friday. I'm not getting out of the hospital wing until _Sunday_ at the latest, because my shoulder blade was ripped off. The _least_ I'm offering is Chaser. Ginny can be Seeker if you don't want the pressure, and you'll train all week; Madam Hooch's given Gryffindor that right, since we'll have to find another player on such short notice."

"_Then find a different one_!" Kurama sighed.

"Hiei, you don't understand," Ron half-growled, much more fed up with him than anyone save Ginny, "You're one of the most natural players we've seen since Harry himself. If you're good about it, you could probably score a lot of goals being a Chaser, if we trained you proper."

"_Or_," interjected Katie Bell, one of the more excited team members about the wretched development, "Since your reflexes are so advanced, as a Seeker, you could catch the snitch in ten minutes time! I'm serious, those Ravenclaws are gonna' be smarting when they find out we've got _you_ on our team…"

"Are you people _deaf_, I'm _not _joining!"

"Hayry-san?" Hiei, Yusuke, and the Gryffindor quiddich team turned to Kurama as he continued in an impatient sort of way, "What sort of broomstick do you own, again?"

"A firebolt, why?"

"How fast does it travel?"

"150 miles per hour," Harry replied, sounding a little cautious this time, "It's the fastest in the world…"

Hiei glared venomously at Kurama, who shrugged back.

'What the Hell was _that_ for Fox?'

'Hiei, you never know…perhaps Hayry would be willing to let you use his broom for the match. You _do_ like speed, don't you?'

'I can go at _least_ 200 on my _worst day_.'

'Yes, but unfortunately, there isn't a better broomstick than that. I can tell, Hiei, you like to fly, and you were going just sixty on Ginny's broom – that's a _third_ of the firebolt's top speed.'

Now Kurama, despite Hiei's best attempts, was easily closest to him. He couldn't well lie to him, even if he wished (as he did now) – but then again, not many people could.

'You may never get to fly again after this, Hiei; Harry wouldn't loan out his best broomstick for a simple joy ride, and after the mission,' Hiei glared at him for speaking of it amongst humans, even English-speaking ones, 'you probably won't ever fly on _any_ broom ever again. Back to jumping through trees and free falling off cliffs.'

Hiei thought on this for a moment, making sure to keep a violent scowl on his face all the while.

Finally, he looked up at Harry. He opened his mouth to speak, glared harshly at Kurama, who ignored the gesture, and continued, "On one condition, Potter."

"What?"

"You'll let me use your fancy _firebolt_," he rolled his eyes at the name, "for the game. I don't have a broom, and I don't want one as slow as a bloody tortoise."

"But you were doing _fifty_ on _my_ broom," Ginny protested rather haughtily, still sore about her deceased possession, "Isn't that enough?"

"I was going _sixty_ kilometers per hour, Weasley, and I _like_ to go fast. Potter won't be doing any flying before I'm through with the game."

"I assure you, with a bit of training, Hiei could fly _without_ unseating himself and crashing your broom," Kurama interrupted, "As you should know by now, he picks things up rather quickly. You could start him out on something slower, and then by the end of the week, he _should_ be able to fly like a heepo-greffu."

Harry pondered this for a moment before nodding. Ginny and Ron both began to exclaim against it, but Harry shook his head at them, saying to Hiei, "So which position do you want to play?"

"Seeker ends the blasted game?"

"Yeah."

"Then that."

"_Har-ry_!" Ginny started, "You _can't_ expect him to--!"

"Ginny, you said you play Chaser better than Seeker, didn't you?"

She blushed, saying, "Well, yeah, but that's not what I--"

"Let him play, then. You could train him yourself, if you wanted," He suggested in earnest.

"That would be fine," She replied, cool and angry again, "_if I had a broom to play on_."

"Stop this nonsense," Kurama snapped, making everyone around Harry's bed jump, "Don't bother over your stupid broom, Inari knows it's not the end of the world," He reached up a hand to rub one of his temples, "Some people have bigger issues."

"It broke in_ half_, Minamino!" Ginny yelled in reply, glaring at him, "And lord knows you _can't_ have heard how _dirt poor _my family is, being in _Slytherin_ and all, but I'm _not_ gonna' get a new one!"

Kurama sighed heavily, looking thoughtful for a moment, before nodding and saying, "Sure. Hayry-san, if we're done here…"

"Erm…" He began, "I guess so. Ginny, you really won't…?"

'We need to leave,' Kurama muttered, heading quickly for the infirmary exit.

Hiei and Yusuke went quickly after him, Yusuke asking, 'What, why?'

'Yusuke, have you gotten your things?' He continued lightly, shoving open the double doors rather forcefully.

'Actually,' He replied sullenly, 'I couldn't find my paycheck – and then those demons came out of the forest, and… D'you think I can ask Koen–?'

'The _book_, Yusuke.'

'Oh, book…' He shoved his hand into his robe pocket, pulling out a thin paperback with an oni on its cover. 'Here.'

'Thank you,' Kurama replied, taking it from Yusuke and flipping it open. Hiei switched on his glower.

'That the book?'

'Yeah…' He replied sheepishly.

'You dumbass, _how_ could you have missed _that_? It's like a dragon in a cage of lizards!'

'I told you, I accidentally fell asleep…'

'Pft, _right_, and _that's_ a legitimate excuse!'

'Quiet, I can't concentrate!' Hiei scowled at Kurama, then back at Yusuke before settling for grimacing at anything that looked remotely capable of interpreting his temper.

That included the floor. Floors were very empathetic to pissed fire demons.

'Hiei?' He didn't answer; so Kurama continued, 'You're irritated, aren't you?'

'You like to ask stupid questions, don't you?'

'An early Happy Christmas, then,' And he tossed him the book.

Hiei let it fall unceremoniously to the floor, acting as if he couldn't care less about Kurama's blunt disregard of the rules. But as the three walked past, it mysteriously burst into flame.

'So…it have anything good in it?'

'The worst they can accuse us of is believing in demons and in religion – most Englishmen are Christian, you know, so our multiple worlds, Kami and Enma, etcetera, don't really exist to them. It didn't mention Spirit Detectives, thank goodness.'

'Oh. Cool, I guess…didn't totally screw up, did I?'

'Not completely, though we would have been better off without them having it. And by the way – I don't mean to favor Hiei, but would you mind staying behind to make sure Hayry-san is secured? You can take break of your rounds tonight.'

'Why?' Yusuke replied, raising his eyebrows, 'You plannin' on going somewhere?'

'I wanted to get Ginny a new broomstick, and I thought we would benefit from the therapy better than you,' Hiei was stunned for a moment; then he snickered.

'Oh. 'Kay…_what_ therapy?' Yusuke asked, beginning to look a bit disturbed at Hiei's sudden uplifting.

'Stealing, of course – I wouldn't spend a yen of my earnings for anyone other than Mother. Pardon, Yusuke.'

He laughed, 'No, I don't care, have your fun – Keiko wouldn't like me robbing a store, anyway.'

'Tied to the wife's apron strings, aren't you?'

'…You learned that from Chu,' It was an accusation, not a question, and Hiei smirked.

'Intoxicated moron's more useful than Kuwabara.'

**lll**

"_Harry_! Ron!"

"_Wot_?" Ron replied, irritated, throwing down his quill, where it blotted his Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. Harry looked up at her from his own essay, abandoning trying to figure out how he was going to finish it with his right arm out of commission.

Hermione threw herself into the chair on the other side of Harry's bed, gaining only a glance from the other infirmary patients, and whispered, "_The book's gone_!"

Harry felt himself pale.

"Are you _serious_?" Ron said callously, standing up so suddenly his chair tipped backwards and made a loud sound on the tile floor. Madam Pomfrey gave him a look and he reluctantly picked up the stool and sat back down.

"Yes, I checked where I put it in my truck and it wasn't there. My things were dumped back in not at _all_ like I'd had them, just in a pile, and—!"

"I bet you Minamino took it," Ron interjected, whispering as he stole a glance around him, "He saw it at Hagrid's, after all…prolly over reacted, you smart-types always do—"

"But how did he get in? He _can't've_ known the password…c-_could_ he?"

"Hermione, calm down," Harry answered quickly, "You're not thinking straight – Minamino was the announcer at the quiddich game, he had to be there earlier than everyone else, so he couldn't've taken it. But…" He waited for Madam Pomfrey to walk past, "Yusuke wasn't. He didn't come until the very end, when he burnt up that hippogriff. _Right_?"

"_Bastard_," Ron growled, propping his chin up on his hand. "He seemed like the nicest one, too."

"Yeah…" Hermione bit her lip before burying her head in her hands. "_Ugh_! We just lost one of our most important pieces of evidence!"

"Don't worry, we could probably steal it back from them, or maybe they've turned it--"

"No, Harry," And she sighed, peeking up at him feebly, "Right outside the hospital wing, I found something smoldering. The ashes were just being blown about, and it smelled like burnt glue…"

The three fell silent before Ron grumpily took up his quill and pulled his paper closer to him.

**lll**

"So? How'd it go?"

"The plan went perfectly, my Lord. The Boy was even injured," No Death Eater said "Harry Potter" before the Dark Lord without having his tattoo searing.

"I do not care of the Boy right now," Snape feigned indifference – that was uncommon, "How did the Japanese fair before Dumbledore took control of the situation?"

"Actually, my Lord…the foreigners were the ones who killed the demons," Voldemort's red eyes widened behind his scarf. "Urameshi and Minamino used their form of Japanese wandless magic; Jaganshi used his sword."

Voldemort chuckled, once again thumbing the seemly docile Nagini, wrapped about his shoulders, "Tell me how they did it."

And Snape explained the events of the quidditch match in detail, only stopping when Voldemort interrupted, "They are proving even more dangerous than I had hoped…tell me, Severus, do they ever receive owls?"

"They have yet to be sent a single letter."

"Hmm… I want more information. Find out as much about their home life as possible without attracting attention to yourself – though, I suppose I need not warn _you_."

Snape took the bait, "Impossible, my Lord. You are brilliant to check."

"Mmm. Wormtail."

"Y-yes, sir?"

"Take the cauldron, I am through."

"Of, of course, m-m-my Lord."

**lll**

When Harry requested his trunk to be brought down after Hermione and Ron had left at nine o' clock, Pomfrey's answer was a flat-out "no".

"Hell no," if you translated it into the teenage terminology.

However, with a bit of innocent reassurance that he only wanted some books, and the further guarantee that he did not care that he would be taking a sleeping potion anyway (thus in theory had no time for reading), she allowed him the piece to be placed at the end of his bed.

"If you want anything," She told him severely, handing over a vile-smelling potion, "you'll better ask me first; if I see you even a _toe_ out of bed…"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey."

"You'd better. Now, _drink_," And she stared at him and his cup, expectantly.

Luckily, Neville (bearing a twisted ankle) sneezed violently enough to shower the water he'd been gulping everywhere. Pomfrey turned, exasperated, to the sputtering boy, and Harry quickly bent down to pour the goop underneath his bed, ignoring the pain shooting through his back. When she turned back around, she saw him "finishing off" the potion, in reality only "gulping" from the now-empty cup.

Harry feigned sleep until nearly a half hour after the nurse had retired for the evening before grabbing his wand from the bedside table and levitating the trunk within reach of his hand.

After a few minutes of searching, Harry uncovered the reason for his trouble – the Marauder's Map. He hadn't looked at it since last year, because of the DA, but the recent theft of the _Guild to the Three Worlds_ had brought it back into his head.

Harry put his trunk back and then pulled the covers over his head, wishing he'd been given pain killers.

_Lumos_.

The tip of his wand lit, and he grinned – he was getting pretty good with nonverbal spells.

Minamino_ can't even do them yet, _He thought proudly as he unfolded the map, whispering, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," as he tapped the parchment with his wand.

Immediately following the spider's web of lines that spread out from the tip, Harry began to look for the three foreigners, curious over what they did at this hour. It was kind of obvious they didn't get proper rest – Yusuke was yawning a lot these days, and Hiei was sometimes too tired to glare at everything he looked at. Sparring, as they'd discussed, was probably the cause of the insomnia, and if so, then they would probably be in the Forbidden Forest; or had they discovered the Room of Requirement? They couldn't be fighting in an empty classroom, could they?

But there were no titled dots running rampant in the forest, unless you could count the centaurs and various other animals. And the Room of Requirement didn't show up on the map, so if he wanted to know if they were there, he'd have to hike seven floors up to the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, which wasn't going to happen.

So Harry checked the dormitories; and in the Gryffindor was Hiei, seated on his favorite window, and Yusuke by the fireplace.

Except, Hiei's name was strange; he had been introduced as "Hiei Jaganshi," (or, "Jaganshi Hiei") but here it read, "The Forbidden Child Hiei." It came to him that perhaps that's what Jaganshi _meant_, but then why wasn't "Hiei" changed, too? Besides, "the Forbidden Child" was more a title than a surname, and a bizarre one at that.

But maybe that was _why_ he'd called himself "Jaganshi" instead; maybe he didn't want anyone to know his real name.

So satisfied (for the moment) with his epiphany, Harry switched to the side of the parchment showing the Slytherin house.

And found something stranger.

Minamino was seemingly on his bed in the boy's dormitory, probably doing homework, and that was relatively normal; but his name was unreadable. Not that it was in Japanese or anything, but there looked to be another name on top of "Minamino Shuichi." Harry could only make out the "chi" at the end of the phrase – the rest of the letters were jumbled together illegibly, seemingly due to another print atop it.

At first, Harry was dumbfounded at this find. But quickly, he came to a shocking conclusion; someone was on top of Minamino.

The thing was, physical combat was not something widely practiced at Hogwarts, being that hexing someone was just as effective and even more facile. Plus, the dots supposedly on top of one another weren't jerking like there was any sort of struggle going on.

So either Minamino was calmly beating the shit out of someone unconscious (or visa versa), or…well, _he_ at least was having a good time. After all, girls could go into the boy's dormitories…

Harry folded over that corner of the map and went back to Yusuke and Hiei were doing.

Hiei was on his window sill, Yusuke was in the same chair. Ron was also in the Common Room, probably still writing his paper, and Hermione was next to him. Dean had gone up to bed (Harry felt something vindictive rise in his chest) and so had his entire quiddich team. There were other students of different grades strewn about the dorm and the Common Room, all of whom's names made sense and none of which were atop each other.

After a while, Harry became bored with watching the Griffindors slowly go up to sleep, not to mention tired himself. But as he held up his wand to tap out the light, when everyone but the foreigners and a fourth year had retired, the dot called Urameshi Yusuke disappeared and reappeared next to Hiei.

Harry blinked.

Following several seconds of "conversation," Yusuke materialized at the Common Room door, and once out and around the hall corner, completely vanished.

Stunned, Harry quickly began shuffling through the folds of the map, discarding the privacy he'd given Minamino, until he finally spotted Yusuke.

He raised his eyebrows; there, a faded mark to Yusuke's bold black, was the dot called Moan Myrtle, seated on a sink in the girl's bathroom she haunted. Yusuke was across from her, sitting on the floor up against the wall.

Curiosity got the better of him after a minute of deliberation, and Harry whispered, "Mischief managed," before folding up the map.

_Nox,_ he thought, and his wand tip went dark. Harry crawled gingerly out of bed, cradling his shoulder carefully. Already he was beginning to regret his intentions, but he'd been through worse, after all, and why the hell would Yusuke be in the girl's lavatory, with Moaning Myrtle, at who knew how late at night?

His pondering would have to be postponed, however, for when he'd awake again, because about halfway to the Hospital Wing doors, Madam Pomfrey came out of her office in a frumpy, sheer nightgown, holding an empty glass.

And apparently, Harry would be cleaning the bedpans for a week.

**lll**

'Ready, Hiei?'

'Fox, I've been ready since we got landed in this damn hole.'

'I'll take that as a yes, then,' And Kurama pulled a vial out of his black school robe. Hiei raised his eyebrows.

'You're using that tonight?'

'This wasn't so _I_ could vent frustration – it was for Youko. I could barely keep it together during supper, his aura was so out of control."

'Hn,' Hiei uttered as Kurama drained the small bottle, 'You gonna' replenish that next Saturday?'

'Not without my seeds – but that will be easily remedied. Precisely, now.'

'How long again?'

'Fifteen minutes.'

'Pft,' Hiei scowled as he turned towards the headmaster's office, a small tower that was more easily accessed on the roof. 'We'll have to wait _that long_ until we can go?'

'It won't be any real hindrance; _I_ would think you would be more worried about the time _after_ I changed."

Hiei's eyebrows shot up, and he looked accusingly at Kurama, who smirked in the moonlight.

'So?'

'Youko's aura will help elongate the process. Worst case scenario, we change back partway through the return trip. C'mon,' And Kurama jumped off towards the tower. Hiei shot ahead of him, and was picking the lock on the window with a wire by the time he caught up.

'You did a check first?'

'Pft, of course – human's not even in,' He pushed the glass open silently before flitting through.

Kurama followed cautiously, wincing momentarily at the magical seals Hiei'd broken with his Jagan as he stepped onto Dumbledore's desk. Hiei had already found, seized, and unsheathed his sword, currently examining the blade fussily.

'Seeds are in the end drawer to the far left, yellow file.'

'Thanks.'

He leapt lightly off the desk and reached down, touching the handle of the small cupboard; there was another spell.

Kurama focused a point of his energy into his palm, then shot it through the ward as he fisted the hand. The spell shattered like crystal.

By the time Kurama had upended the contents of the manila folder and had woven every seedling into the body of his hair, Hiei was kneeling on a high filing cabinet, watching something framed on the wall hungrily.

'What are you staring at?'

'Look at this sword…' Kurama walked closer to see an elegant western-styled blade with rubies set into the intricate hilt. A card at the base of the frame read, "Godric Gryffindor's Sword".

'Hmm. How interesting. You've taken to a human weapon.'

Hiei scowled down at him before jumping to the floor. 'The jewels are real, is all.'

'Right,' He grinned in response the ameko's bluff, 'Let's go before Dumbledore arrives back.'

Hiei secured the new sash about his waist and stole out the window. Kurama followed, leaving the pane open with hopes of small animals crawling into the headmaster's office.

**lll**

Hiei was standing on the roof of a building when Youko emerged out of the shadows to lope up beside him.

'I've checked it – it's one of those wizard spells again, concealing the alley in the between of dimensions. We'll have to go through the tavern.'

'I thought so. It seemed that way before,' Youko answered, crossing his arms. 'We might as well start,' And he jumped across the London street to another building, right in sight of a Ford pick-up. It swerved into a letter box, honking wildly.

In the small explosion of mail that ensued, another vehicle rammed into the back of the former, tires squealing.

In the commotion, Hiei quietly followed the kitsune to the other side of the street unnoticed.

'What the hell was that?' But Youko's smirk was too infectious, and he found himself mirroring the expression.

'I _want_ to make a scene, while simultaneously hiding who we are. It's exceptional hilarity, as well as more challenging than simply going along – these human securities are laughable… Now,' And he continued on to the next roof. Hiei sped ahead of him, activating his Jagan as he waited on the Leaky Caldron for Youko to catch up. He was in the middle of a last-minute sweep of the inn when he appeared beside him.

'Clear?'

'There's a human writing in his room on the third floor.'

'Good.'

Upon Youko's suggestion, they waited a while until traffic had cleared before landing on the sidewalk bellow, the kitsune set to picking the lock rather than a more conventional window entrance. 'It's amazing the lack of travel occurring naught an hour from midnight,' Youko said casually; Hiei flinched at the volume. 'Unheard of in the Makai…' He continued as he tried the doorknob, announcing rather pleasantly when it refused to complete a rotation, 'It's locked.'

Immediately, he reached into his hair and extracted a seed, which he then pressed into the keyhole. With a hiss, he grew a leafy vine until it stuck profusely from the keyhole, and the door swung freely inward. Hiei overloaded the protective wards with his Jagan and they walked through. Youko began reclaiming his plant while Hiei progressed outside to the gate.

_Was that _really_ necessary? _

_Are you having second thoughts, Shuichi? I'm not going back in until my ki is completely spent, you know_.

_Unfortunately_.

'_Are you _ready_ yet?_'

'_Don't be so impatient, Jaganshi, or I'll stick one of _these_ up your brazen little ass._'

He didn't answer, and Youko sauntered cheerfully outside as he heard the bricks of the magic wall begin to turn.

When the two entered Diagon Alley, they saw the wide walk was completely empty, every shop closed; quite expected since, as Youko had put it, London's inhabitance generally behaved different than the Makai's – such as having possession of rational sleeping patterns.

'_Where's that quiddich shop?_' Hiei asked as they leapt up to the roof of the Apothecary.

'_Never mind, we're hitting that last._'

'Why'

'_We'll want to cover our tracks, of course. Hermione-chan is proving to be exceptionally suspicious, after all, and the stealing of a single broomstick the same brand as what we supposedly bought for Ginny-chan, in the same night, is more evidence than she needs._'

'_If we trash the entire alley, she'll still be on our case._'

'_But the authorities won't – there won't be a tenfold as much proof, and thus one flying stick will be the least of their worries._

'_Besides, it's fun. Loosen up, you cantankerous prat._'

'_Hn._'

'_Well said_. _Now_,' And here Youko smirked again, '_let us see how invincible Gringotts _supposedly_ is – I've been dieing to get inside it since the giant brought us here._'

By the time the two got around to Quality Quiddich Supplies, every animal's cage in both Eeylop's Owl Emporium and Magical Menagerie was unlocked (the rarer species set free), every cauldron in the Cauldron Shop was filled with various combinations of ingredients from the Apothecary (i.e., all of them), mixed together beyond salvation, let alone recognition; and every fake wand between Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and Gambol and Jape's Wizarding Joke Shop was switched out with as many as Ollivander's real ones as they could manage.

Various contents from Gringotts' vaults had been exchanged with other various contents (and stolen, for that matter); the Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlor's ice cream was either eaten or melting; most of the post office's delivery owls had met an untimely end at the point of Hiei's Fist of the Mortal Flame, its walls were decorated with every stamp the place owned; and all three of the robe store's owners were going to wake up teepeed in their own fabric (furthermore, they'd be finding sewing needles in the chair cushions for years).

Simply put, anything not personally stolen was planted (pun unintended) in another store, so that the vendors would be accusing each other of treachery. A fine example of this was the twenty-odd ice cream cartons placed inside Flourish and Blott's bookstore, such as left to melt on a pricey stack of books or balanced rather precariously atop the manager's bedroom door. Heh.

It was a four hour job total, but they were grinning at one another by the time Hiei'd finally taken a Cleansweep Seven (one of few broomsticks not replaced by the flightless sweeping brooms once kept by the stationary shop across the street) off the broom rack.

'_This all?_'

'_It's nearly four o' clock; human businesses usually wake at five, and I think I already heard someone scream in that animal shop._'

'_Feh. Where're those mail order owls?_'

**lll**

Everything had seemed relatively normal that morning.

It didn't matter that everyone in the Great Hall was buzzing worriedly – probably because of the momentous Quiddich match, anyway.

So Hermione paid the ruffled delivery owl some coins rather leisurely.

This changed as she opened the _Daily Prophet_ on the table, punctuating the amendment by spitting her gulp of pumpkin juice all over the front page.

"Oi, bad drink?"

Choking, she roughly shoved the paper over to Ron, who observed it skeptically before gasping.

Underneath the juice was, two articles were partnered: "TRANSFIGURED TROLLS ATTACK HOGWARTS – CHILDREN TAKE ACTION," and, "MYSERIOUS RANSAK OF DIAGON ALLEY."

Both articles were equipped with the customary moving pictures, one displaying a demon carcass, another of the three foreigners (taken at the scene of the incident), and a third showing Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions (with Madam Malkin sobbing in the background) chaotically dressed in fabric from top to bottom.

The first article told details they already knew, while the second talked of how every shop's protective spellwork in Diagon Alley had been quietly destroyed, the contents then either stolen or inexplicably found in a different store. Even Gringott's had supposedly been successfully infiltrated, though an interviewed goblin working there had apparently denied releasing any information until all accounts had been checked for signs of banditry, or bandits.

Both featured complicated explanations of how it was all connected to Voldemort.

The blood had drained completely from Hermione's face by the time Yusuke sat down beside her.

"Oi, what ya'—?" The boy gasped when he read the headline, shared between her and Ron.

Then he turned and began talking furiously to the persons beside him in Japanese.

Hermione looked up stiffly to see the surprised face of Minamino and the normal indifference of Hiei.

When Yusuke'd finished his chatter, Minamino said worriedly to Ron, "Where is your sister, Rone-san?"

"Why d'_you_ want t' know?" He replied loudly. Hermione flinched – he was one on of his last nerves with the foreigners, because of the book and Ginny's broken broom.

"Well, I went to the Owlery immediately after leaving the infirmary," Ron snorted, "to send out…well, it was to be a surprise, actually, and…would you suppose she's upstairs, still getting—?"

"_Shuichi_!" This time Minamino was the one to flinch, and the five turned to the Great Hall doors as Ginny ran through them.

"Oi Kurama, why did she—?"

But the rest of his sentence shriveled up and choked in his throat as Ginny, coming opposite them, leapt onto the Gryffindor table, accidentally stepping in a bowl of gravy, and flung herself pell-mell to the ground next to Minamino, grabbing his robes around his shoulders for stability as she nearly fell over as the gravy greased her foot and caused it to slide from under her as she landed.

He gave strangled yelp as he was nearly forced to the floor, his reflexes immediately breaking her grip around his neck, throwing her completely onto the stone. People along the table suddenly stood up, cranking to look at the fuss, as Ginny half-squealed, unabated and grinning, "_You got me another one_!"

"A-anou, yes—?"

"Another _what_?" Ron snapped as he hurried over to where a stiff Dean was helping Ginny up.

"I went along and bought her another broom. It _was_ our fault, after all – well, Hiei's," Minamino explained in a slightly harassed way (and, for the first time she'd seen, pink in the face) as he straightened his shirt, "But he's almost broke, with all the sweets he buys yearly, so I decided to treat him an early birthday present by…"

"Oh Ron, it's a brand-new cleansweep, it's _brilliant_ and shiny and—!"

"_How'd you get the money_?"

"I'm an heir, Rone-san. My _obaason_ puts a little more yen in my account every year." He shot a glare over to Yusuke, who was still laughing.

Finally, Hermione was able to interject, "But Diagon Alley was turned upside down last night. How'd they fill your order?"

"That's what I was worried about, but since Weasody-san got it, I can only suppose it was received before they closed down for the night," She stared at him incredulously and he probed, hesitantly "Is there something wrong, Graynger-san?"

"No. Nothing's wrong."

"God, Shuichi, thank you _so_—!"

"Weasody-san, if you're _really_ so delighted, could you please all me Shuichi-kun, at most? You're making me uncomfortable, I think you might try and tackle me again…" Dean's face turned darker at the thought as he tried, fruitlessly, to talk to the ecstatic Ginny.

As the girl laughed, agreeing at "Shuichi-kun's" suggestion, Hermione tugged on Ron's sleeve and whispered, "We have to go see Harry. Grab the newspaper, too."

"And leave my _sister_ alone with that…that—!"

"She has Dean, don't worry about it."

"What makes you think _he's_ any better?"

"_Ro_-on!"

**lll**

_Will you shut up already? Between you and Yusuke I can barely _stand_ you!_

_How can you _not_ expect me to be pleased when my work is appreciated? _Shuichi-kun.

And he gave another chuckle.

Dean was looking nasty, that was obvious; but Ginny, baby-me-and-I'll-rip-your-lungs-out-to-feed-them-to-my-pet-pygmy-puff girl that she was, couldn't seem to grasp that her boyfriend could be upset that she was fawning over another person.

Specifically, another _boy_.

So she continued chatting him up happily, seemingly ignorant of his own anxiety and the growing grimace on Dean's face. Yusuke and Hiei, of course, were doing nothing but laughing behind him in each others minds; Hermione and Ron were arguing, yet again.

Luckily, about that time, a bird who was late to that morning's post descend upon the group.

A _crane_.

Which meant that Koenma had urgent information that he couldn't have been bothered with calling Kiyoshi; couldn't speak via communicator because they were in public.

The three snapped into seriousness, Kurama turning from Ginny without explanation, focusing his attention to Yusuke, who caught the bird as it leisurely flapped down to them. Unlike its English relatives, it seemed quite unbothered by the demons.

'What's it say, Detective?' Hiei growled as he pulled a letter out of the bird's beak; throwing it into the air when he'd finished.

It was a most unusual letter; it was a deep scarlet envelope that, punctuated by raised eyebrows from the Japanese and gasping from the English, was smoking at its corners.

_What of all Inari's _tails--

"Yusuke, open it, quick," Ginny said gravely, Dean managing to nod in agreement. Hermione and Ron were still in their squabble.

"How? What if it explodes if I do?" He said skeptically, holding it at arm's distance, "I mean, it's not like I don't trust ole' Paci-Ass, but this seems dangerous…"

"That's exactly what's going to happen if you _don't_ open it," She replied, taking a step back. Kurama and Hiei mirrored her action as its top began to curl black, too hot to touch.

"_Watch out_!" Yusuke bellowed, and then tossed it high in the air, where it burst in a flurry of paper and flame.

As it fell back towards the ground, people shrieking as they fled the tables, one terribly familiar voice shouted above all the others:

'YOU _IMBCILES_! I MADE YOU COME HERE TO _WATCH __POTTER_, NOT TO GO ABOUT STEALING VALUABLES AND CRASHING THE WIZARD ECONOMY!' Youko gave another chuckle, before hissing at the next sentence, 'THAT STOLEN MERCHINDISE IS COMING OUT OF YOUR PAYCHECKS! I CANNOT _BELIEVE_—!'

'You guys wanna' split now?' Yusuke growled around clenched teeth.

'That sounds wonderful.'

'_AND ANOTHER THING_— wait, what, where are you…? _GET BACK HERE_! HIEI! _KURAMAA_!'

**lll**

Harry's hands clenched the note rather forcefully.

_Weasody-san—_

_I honorably apologize for the loss of your broomstick. It was an accident the three of us sincerely wish had never occurred, and we hope this replacement will compensate for our rudeness and that you might forgive us. I mailed the payment with my order in the hopes that it would get to you quickly, so that you could practice with it as soon as possible. _

_Sincerely, _

_Minamino Shuichi_

"…model's much newer than Percy's old broom – a seven instead of five, you know, and it's so _terribly_ shiny—!"

_He_ would have bought her a new broom if she'd asked; but she hadn't. Ginny was too proud.

So of course, when Hermione suggested that the Diagon Alley disaster was absurdly linked to the foreigners (despite Ron's allegation of her merely being out to get them, that even though the concept was really cool, sixteen-year-old boys didn't know how to steal so effectively), Harry agreed; that Minamino should be so lucky was ridiculous. How many _other_ people had sent orders that day? How many had been filled before Quality Quiddich Supplies had closed?

"And besides," He said gravely once Ginny had left, a fuming Dean trailing behind her, "you know how the _twins_ are. Add that to their fighting skills, and they _could_ be the thieves."

And even if they weren't, Minamino wasn't just being nice to be _nice_ – who in their right mind would spend that much money on a present? (He failed to remember the detail that they owed it to her, that it was really a favor to Hiei, rather than Ginny.) Harry hadn't forgotten what he'd seen last night; what if Minamino was a con-artist? Who knew how many Slytherin girls he'd…well…and he certainly wasn't dating any one of them.

And now he was after Ginny.

And sure, that night, Harry Potter would feel guilty about his morning assumptions, would take in facts he'd missed, and conclude that there was a very slim chance that the Japanese boy was really so horrible.

But as long as Ginny's obvious infatuation smiled in his mind, he was hell-bent on one thing:

This meant war.

**lll**

It was autumn, so in place of the springtime _sakura_ petals, deciduous leaves fell brown and orange and gold. It was pretty, almost as pretty as the cherry blossoms, and so Keiko really didn't mind walking home that afternoon, even through the chilling wind.

But soon the solar calendar would say December; soon the leaves would run out, and snow would take its place. Powder the streets like sugar. Almost as beautiful as the last.

And again, Keiko wouldn't mind walking home, despite the extra coat covering her blazer, the woolen gloves, the stockings under her university skirt.

She never minded the seasons. It was the walking through them unaccompanied that bothered her.

Because if she'd had _her_ way, Yusuke would be talking animatedly beside her, their hands clasped, swinging between them, as he told her all about anything at all that would come to mind. And when they arrived at their apartment, he would dawdle around her as she started dinner, trying to waste time as much as possible, skillfully ignoring Keiko's heedings of, "You have to get started on your homework!"

Until, of course, she snapped and yelled at him to get his work done.

And Yusuke would grin, kiss her cheek, sit down in the living room and dutifully begin.

It brought pain to her chest just thinking about it.

But the hefty paychecks were coming monthly, just as he'd said they would, part of it to her and half to Atsuko (Keiko'd called to make sure the arrangement had worked out). Maybe after a while of this mission, maybe he could come back to Japan and they could live with only _her_ part-time income for a while – no more 'go-kill-this-evil-demon' fiascos for a while. No more risking her husband's life for a few yen.

Keiko's friends were noticing her bitter mood. Not that they hadn't during the smaller periods of Yusuke's jaunts, but they were so short, the girls usually attributed it to PMS.

But now, only the funniest jokes made her laugh. Only the most important female crises shook her, made her pay attention.

And then Urameshi Keiko had gotten her first "B ".

It was a complete disaster, and they picked up on a higher problem immediately after that; they questioned into her health, her stress levels – was homework getting to her, or was she bothered by a cold? Why couldn't Yusuke, her own husband, take care of her? They'd known he was _stupid_, but they hadn't seen him as moronic.

Which raised another, more vital inquiry – was he treating her right?

But of course, Yusuke hadn't even accidentally stepped on her foot he was so careful around her, let alone lost his temper. So to quell their suspicions, Keiko had to tell them a half-truth; that Yusuke'd gone to "study" in England.

Their support was nirvana for weeks. Not that she couldn't find solace elsewhere, with one of the "in the know" girls, or even Kuwabara – but Shizuru and Kazuma-san were always working to pay bills, to finish high school, always busy with some task, driven unimaginably. Yukina and Genkai were absurdly far away, to the point where she would have to take the entire day off just to spend an hour with them; to the point where college simply wouldn't allow such a luxury.

And there was a typhoon in Chile, and a war in Iraq, and Botan was too busy escorting souls and marking paper work to give more than an hour of time weekly.

But even with her new-found sympathy, it didn't last. None of them could be with her everywhere, anytime, and still manage to finish school work.

No one could replace Yusuke.

And eventually, that became evident once more, and even her friends' support was rarely sufficient numbing.

And that "B " hadn't gone away yet.

Stupid English. That's what had caused her initial distress, anyway; if the country'd just been one big Ireland, then everyone would be speaking Irish and they'd be studying _that_ instead.

Or, if the Indians had just gotten rid of the Europeans entirely. Then there wouldn't even be a giant mega country like America, and they'd be learning the much more familiar language of Korean, or Chinese, or…

When Keiko entered the apartment complex, she stopped in the lobby to check their miniature mail box.

As of now, _her_ miniature mail box.

Bills, bills, her meager pay check, letter (Keiko's heart skipped several beats) from Koenma.

She let out a heavy sigh, and instead of ripping the envelope to pieces right then, she stuffed the lot into her bag. Maybe he was adding an extension to the mission; or maybe Yusuke had gotten…gotten…

Keiko wrenched the letter from her purse and tore into the paper like a jackal on rabbit.

_Dear Urameshi Keiko-san,_ (_Yusuke's threatened him to be polite to me_, she thought acidly)

_I regrettably inform you that there has been some disturbance during the mission. I will suppose you are aware of the criminal in the histories of Mr. Jaganshi Hiei-san and Mr. Kurama Youko-san. In short, they have ransacked a key wizard shopping strip mall, as it were, and shall be punished accordingly; _(her eyebrows shot up) _unfortunately, it is apparent that Mr. Urameshi Yusuke-san (your husband) _(_No _duh_, Koenma_…) _knew of, though did not participate in, this act. Because of his inaction concerning the prevention of such deeds, he will also be punished with a pay dock of three percent during the months of December, January, and February. _

_Thank you for your time, _

_Prince Enma Jr. _

_Vice President and Heir of Reikai_

_P.S.—_

_Any letters to your loved ones, comments, or complaints you might wish to send, please place in a larger envelope post marked to: _

_Jorge the Ogre,_

_Office Room 100,404,_

_King Enma's Palace, Reikai_

Oh yes. Yusuke would be getting quite the many letters.

Keiko ripped off the address at the bottom and crumpled the rest of the note fiercely in her hand.

But not as many as Koenma, of course.

He had said "complaints."

Oh, it was _on_. She'd be wearing her lipstick as war paint for the next three months.

**lll**

_What in the Seven Hells _is_ the point of human sports, anyway?_ Hiei grumbled to himself as he pushed dripping bangs from his eyes.

Only to have them blown back into his face, of course. Fucking wind. Fucking rain.

Fucking _England_.

Kurama had told him that using his Jagan to win the match quickly was cheating, because the other seeker didn't have the same ability. Even in practice, just to get out of the rain, he shouldn't be doing it, in case he came to rely on it rather than his own abilities.

_It's not like I'm using _magic, He thought further, shooting through the gravel rain for pleasure rather than to snitch-search. _It's part of my _body

But despite his obvious superior reasoning to the Fox's, who'd probably lived ten times as long as he, Hiei searched Jagan-less. It amazed him, sometimes, how compelled he felt to follow the red-head's instructions.

He'd probably spiked his evening sweet snow.

But scheming human-kitsune synthesis's aside, Hiei was getting cold. He was a fire demon by public appearance, and that wasn't because he hated his Koorime side.

Now, that didn't mean that he _didn't_ hate his Koorime side, but fire was his presiding element. Sure, hypothermia set in for him at negative fifty-two degrees, but he hated being wet or cold like a dragon.

Which, in all spiritual technicality and extreme rationalization, he was.

And keeping himself warm by raising his body temperature was getting old – he was already 120 degrees Fahrenheit, trying to keep himself in his 107 degree comfort zone, and between that and playing Quiddich, his aura was running thin. The game actually required more physical exertion than he'd guessed – no wonder the otherwise lazy team members actually had some build.

So, irritated with Kurama and the weather, Hiei pulled the Potter kid's broom to a stop. He didn't dare unwrap his forehead bandage for fear of the bulleting water blinding him, causing him so much pain he went dumb, so he initiated his Jagan behind the fabric.

Of course the damned winged rock was on the other side of the field.

But that was his luck. He really couldn't care anymore.

Especially since the practice game would end once he nabbed the wretched thing.

Fucking England.

**lll**

"_And, they're off_! Replacement Seekers Jaganshi and Williams to opposite sides of the field, Davis with the quaffle, passes to…"

_Why aren't you commentating, again? _

_I've lost the privilege, apparently. Being that scaling down the announcer's podium is much too dangerous for a silly teenage boy_.

_Let alone taking down several "flying trolls" on a broomstick_.

_Yes. That _is_ a shame, isn't it? _

_What bothers me is that they're being so ignorant; they have the evidence of demons right under their snobby European noses, yet they go about ranting of this Voldemort character using "dark magic" to graft _enlarged bat wings_ onto—!_

_I don't need to hear it again, Youko. _

_Feh. Koenma probably had something to do with it, anyway_…_ It's all for the better, I suppose. _He settled into the back of Kurama's mind, watching through his eyes as they followed the darting players with ease.

About then, there was a burst of aura – of Hiei's aura. Kurama found the demon in the sky, reading his energy levels uneasily; it was just the right amount for…

And soon, he'd stood up in his chair, frightening the second year Gryffindor beside him into shrieking as his action spilled the child's drink. Yusuke also took to his feet as Hiei tilted into a veridical nose dive.

"And it looks like…_Jaganshi's spotted the snitch_! If he catches it, it'll be record time, even surpassing Potter in his first…HE'S GOT IT! HE'S GOT THE SNITCH! 150-0, Gryffindor _WINS_ THE REMATCH!"

'He used his Jagan, didn't he?'

_Oh, _gods_ no, Yusuke, he's actually a Quiddich prodigy – been playing since we first became acquainted. Didn't you _know

Kurama sighed.

**lll**

Cho Chang snuggled into her pillow restlessly. Her friend Marietta, pulling at the neck of her turtleneck sweater as if attempting to cover the pimple formation across her nose, tapped her foot impatiently.

Several more minutes passed before she continued her old argument: "You've been like this ever since the Howler that _Urameshi_," she spat the name with an air of repudiation, "threw into the air at breakfast. You said none of the burning parts got on your clothes, but why are you freaking _out_?"

"It's nothing, Marie, I, I told you not to worry about it… Now go to the Quidditch game already, it's supposed to've started by now, you need to cheer Ravenclaw on—"

"Not until you say what's wrong! You wanted so _badly_ to play against that Jaganshi guy, but you had to call in Amy inst—"

"I just don't _feel_ good, okay!" Cho said rather loudly, punctuating the sentence with a hiccup. She felt something like bile rise in her throat and quickly staggered upright, making it to the lavatory just in time to vomit.

Marietta hurried over and held back her hair as she deposited the rest of her large breakfast for the second time. Once Cho was feeling better, Marietta ventured, "Is it about Shuichi?"

Oh yes. Shuichi and his charity that morning – a brand-new broomstick, given to Ginny.

But it was only part of the problem.

"K-kinda'… But, _listen_—!"

"Cho, you _can't_ get so worked up about a guy! It's not healthy!" _It's not what you think._ "Infact, if he's going to flirt with everyone he meets, you don't _want_ a boyfriend like that – d'_you _know, Lavender Brown, that girl in his year, she's been all over him from the moment they met!" _It's not that at all_. "And a bunch of Slytherin girls say the _creepiest_ things, like how "dark" his stuff – like his _plants_ – is, and how they think he's hot, and—and—he's just not _right_!

"Well, fine, I think I _will _go see that Quidditch game! I bet you he'll be lazing under the bleachers, staring up all the girl's robes and everything. I'll come back when it's over, 'kay, Cho?"

"…F-fine, yeah," Cho replied in a rasp. She couldn't say. It was too weird. Ridiculous.

Exhausted, she laid her cheek against the toilet's cool porcelain once Marietta had jogged from the room. It wasn't long after there were footsteps behind her, and a small hand found her shoulder.

"Hi, Cho."

She flinched; it was Luna Lovegood, two years below her and certainly one of the most unpopular Ravenclaws.

Luna's pale eyes, intense as usual, bored into her own to the point where Cho pulled her head from the toilet seat and focused on anything else in the room, uncomfortable and not in the mood to be polite.

However, Luna had her full attention with the next sentence:

"I could understand the Howler, too."

* * *

**Footnotes:**

"**Dome-al-dore-sensei, the chances of us getting injured by any 'D'-class demon are extremely low. We're trained to handle 'B'-class, you see, so such a small ranking is quite elementary."; Of course, Dome-al-dore-sensei doesn't know anything about demon rankings, so despite the fact that a "B"-class demon could flatten Hogwarts, it seems like a smaller deal than it actually is. **

"_**He's challenging us, Shuichi  
**__**Youko**_**, He mused wryly, **_**were you paying attention when I read 'The Lord of the Rings'?  
**_**That**_** insipid book? It was entirely unoriginal.  
**__**What a shame, I think you'd've enjoyed it**_**."; Golem and Smeegle.  
****I love that correlation.  
****No seriously, just say that first line in a Golem voice. It's weird. **

"'**I was going **_**sixty**_** kilometers per hour, Weasley, and I **_**like**_** to go fast.'"; The Japanese (or the English, for that matter – most countries) use the metric system, rather than the U.S.A.'s inches, etc.  
****Sixty kilometers would be, like…50-something miles, oui? **

"'**The worst they can accuse us of is believing in demons and in religion – most Englishmen are Christian, you know, so our multiple worlds, Kami and Enma, etcetera, don't really exist to them. It didn't mention Spirit Detectives, thank goodness.'"; I really hope you lot know, that Reikai and Makai, etc., are all Japanese mythology, or something similar (please correct me if I'm wrong).  
****So, in YYH, there is not Christian god, or any other religion-ness you might think of. Just the mythology, with maybe a little (or a lotle) of Buddhism.  
****So in my story, being that YYH exist in it, Japanese mythology is, well, "correct."  
****So no Jesus.  
****Or Muhammad.  
****Or Zeus, others, etc.  
****(NOTE: My own religious preferences are not related to this reasoning.)  
****(I.e.: Don't beat me with your Bible-Quran-etc. I'll throw blood cookies at you.)**

"**Sparring, as they'd discussed, was probably the cause of the insomnia, and if so, then they would probably be in the Forbidden Forest; or had they discovered the Room of Requirement?"; Being that I don't expect you lot t' be Harry Potter buffs, I'll explain – the Room of Requirement is an actual room, situated on the seventh floor of Hogwarts, across from a tapestry depicting some idiot teaching trolls ballet. It's unseen on most occasions (even on the Marauder's Map (and good lord, people, I'm not explaining what **_**that**_** is)), though if one were to walk back and forth in front of where the door is thrice, thinking what they most desperately need, it appears, holding within what you wanted. It was a very large part of the fifth Harry Potter book, being that it is where the DA meetings were held.  
****Don't understand?  
****Sorry. 'Best I could do.  
****Like I said, posting this in the YYH category, I can't expect many of you t' always know what the hell I'm talking about. **

"'**How long again?'  
**'**Fifteen minutes.'"; Isn't it? I thought the potion took fifteen to change, then fifteen minutes after. Jeez, I need to pick up the D.T. saga...**

"**Weasley's Wizard Wheezes"; I could hardly bear doing this to my favorite characters, but it had to be done, as our favorite thieves couldn't give a damn. ****Alas, they'll recover.  
****They fucking better.  
****Ah, and now it sounds like I'm talking to myself…**

"_**Obaasan**_**,"; God I love Kevin.  
****Let's see, he's taught me "**_**anou**__**okaasan,**_**" "_itai_," "_teme_," (though, those last two I didn't exactly ask of him...heh) and all the other simple Japanese phrases used.  
****See, I check his essays for grammar misuse in L.A. (he's horrible with other word forms), and he provides me with access to Mandarin Chinese and Japanese.  
Btw, i****t means grandmother.  
****Oh, and from now on, I shalt put any foreign words in the story in italics. Alas, you'll have to guess when I do blurbs like this.  
****And I'm only doing it 'coz I think the lot of you're still under the impression I misspell "salute" wrong at the end of every chapter (except, of course, for Madam Yueh (Je pense - do I spell it right, Lady?)). **

"'_**AND ANOTHER THING**_**— wait, what, where are you…? **_**GET BACK HERE**_**! HIEI! KURAMAA****!'"; Koenma has the ability to televise himself through various means; and I like the idea of him using a Howler.  
****Idiot.  
****Giggle. **

"**It was autumn, so in place of the springtime **_**sakura**_** petals, deciduous leaves fell brown and orange and gold."; Seasons only differ when you go from top to bottom of the Earth – such as Australia and Canada – thus, England and Japan, being on the upper half of the world, are both in Fall, Autumn, what have you.  
****I think.  
****Mais, I'm pretty sure. **

"**But soon the solar calendar would say December;" There are two calendars, as I understand it, for China, Korea, Japan (and prolly more, but they were the only three I'd studied); our (European, American, Australian, most white dudes, etc.) calendar, what they call the solar calendar, and their original calendar, the lunar calendar. Hence, Keiko might refer to "our" calendar as "the solar calendar," rather than just, "the calendar". **

"**But the hefty paychecks were coming monthly, just as he'd said they would, part of it to her and half to Atsuko (Keiko'd called to make sure the arrangement had worked out)."; I know I've really not went by the book (literally) in the rest of this, but in the manga, Atsuko (Yusuke's mother) becomes aware of Yusuke's paranormal abilities about the same time as Keiko – she goes with the rest of the girls to root for Team Urameshi in the D.T. saga.  
****Isn't it like Yusuke to take care of his mom? He's not exactly fourteen anymore.  
****That, and what the hell did she think when he ran off to Makai in the anime?  
****And I love Atsuko. She's like an older, sluttier, drunken version of Keiko. **

**NOTES****: I know why I think Neville de-chuck-a-fies; h****is actor does in the movies.  
****_Dammit_. I hate the bleeding movies, then I base something from its material!  
****But anyway – that's the least of my problems. How many people read the Hallows over the summer? ****How many were tempted to throw it 'neath the wheels of a moving train when your top three and a half favorite characters died?  
****How many of you actually made the walk there once you'd read the ending?  
****Damn it, I **_**do **_**like the series as a whole, but (whoospoilers) it seemed the last one didn't really live up to the rest of the six! It was like too much of a _happy_ ending (yeah, I said happy) for Harry Potter – it was like everyone important (except, of course, for the three and a half people who should have LIVED) went on unscathed, the resolution too easily achieved.  
****I did like James, though, for the three pages I knew him.  
****Yeah.  
****Oh, and since I've mentioned it earlier, "salut" is an informal French goodbye, not a misspelled military thing. **

**Btw,  
****-Salut**


	7. WTMI

**Key:  
**"**Talking – English in an English setting / Japanese in a Japanese setting; Japanese heard by a person who speaks only English and visa-versa."  
**'**Talking – Any other language than the "text in the quotation marks."'  
**'_**Telekinesis'  
**__**Thinking / Conscience**_

**ALL RIGHT! I am **_**officially**_** pissed off and really **_**disturbed**_** over how much I can bleeding talk in the bolded text!  
****Thus, I have come to the solution that I'll just cut down on the BLAH-BLAH-EFFING-BLAH and CUT OUT THE RESPONCES.  
**_**Ahh!  
**__**Le Gasp!  
**_'**HOW **_**COULD**_** YOU, LANIE-CHAN?'  
****Don't freak out. I'll still answer questions and frick; I'll just not do it in the formal-talk-to-you-personally-format. I know this kind of makes it hard for people to find their answers, but screw it, **_**I**_** hate scrolling past the author's pre-gab and I'M GABBING!  
****. . . Ah, screw it. On to the story.**

**Rated T for Teen**

* * *

**Chpt. 7  
****THESE uniforms are Just **_**SOOOO**_** ADORABLE!; in which there is Way Too Much Information**

Cho couldn't keep the shock from her face as Luna led her gently away from the lavatory and onto her bed. She found herself answering the girl's questions as if in a daze:

"You're Japanese, yes?"

"Y-yeah, my mother was Japanese, my father was Chinese—,"

"And I suppose your mother taught you Japanese?"

"Yeah, and my father taught me Chinese—,"

"So I was right about the way you acted at breakfast last week, you were flustered about the Howler? You could understand what it said, too, right?"

"H-how d'_you_ know Jap—?"

"My mother thought that Japan was a fascinating culture, and we were taking classes together when she died. I continued having Daddy take me to class even after she was gone. I have trouble pronouncing the words, but I can understand them perfectly fine. Yusuke-kun and I love to talk."

"O-oh," Leave it to Lovegood to learn a language for no relevant reason, "So, uh…wh-what do you…do you think—?" She couldn't believe she was asking a person who believed in Crumple-Horned Snorkacks her opinion on the Howler.

"Me? I'm not too bothered, because I've had a lot of time to think about it," Cho paled, "I can understand where you're coming from, though, (at first I was scared, too) but once I worked it out in my head, everything made sense. I thought I'd tell you about it, because I thought that since you were still worried enough not to play, you might not have thought about it how I did."

"What are you _talking_ about, didn't you just _say_ – you must have misinterpreted it, it _said_—!"

"There was a man yelling at them for ruining Diagon Alley."

"When he said they were _supposed_ to be watching Harry! Like, _stalking_ him!" Cho pointed out, desperately, since the ransack of wizard's London by a couple of teenage boys didn't seem to affect her.

Luna nodded, saying, "Well yes, of course," but was otherwise unaffected.

She continued, frustrated this time, "It sounds like they're working for You-Know-Who!"

"No, actually, it doesn't."

"_What_?" She was insane. Good god, the only person who _believed her_ was insane.

"You see, Cho – may I call you Cho? Thank you – that person said that he was going to dock their pay for the things they stole," Luna finished, smiling again as if this should have cleansed Cho's doubt.

It didn't, so the girl persisted, "I agree that they shouldn't have stolen, but the person who was paying them to watch Harry sounded like he was going to pay back Diagon Alley, and so was docking their salary to do it. So it can't be a _bad_ organization they're working for; it might even be the Ministry, just keeping an eye on Harry. It would explain why they liked to fight so much.

"Besides, they're all too nice to be working for You-Know-Who, don't you think?"

Again, Cho stared at Luna incredulously. She did have a point; there wasn't any denying that.

But anyone skilled enough to raid Diagon Alley without being caught (well, by the Ministry Officials) would be too dangerous. _Much_ too dangerous. Luna was probably just rationalizing their actions because she liked them.

Cho told her so; and Luna answered, smiling again, "But yes, don't you see, they would _also_ be dangerous enough to help protect Harry. You're worrying too much about this, Cho," And before she could argue further, the girl suggested, blinking for the first time in several long minutes, "If you'd like, we could ask them about it."

Her stomach shriveled up and died.

"_No_! Luna, that's _crazy_! What d'you think they would _do_ to us if we told them we knew?"

"Oh, I think they'd be fairly pleasant about it. Hiei-san might try to kill us at first," Again, Cho paled, "but Minamino-kun would stop him, or Yusuke-kun. Everything would work out in the end," She concluded, nodding like she wasn't really aware of what she was doing.

Cho let out a shaky sigh, her intuition unsurprised, but her hope abolished. Her only ally, her only _confident_ (if she could call Looney Lovegood either) was a disobliging nutcase. She was going to be just as crazy before Christmas at this rate.

Luna, seemingly sensing Cho's feeling of defenselessness, patted her back. "Just think about it. They're in Gryffindor, after all."

"Yeah, but just Yusuke and Hiei (who doesn't even really count if you think about it really)! And _Minamino _is—,"

"In Slytherin, yes, but he's so polite, I would think that compensated for it some, wouldn't you?"

All right, that was the last wand – to hell with being desperate, she was mad now.

"_Lu_-na!" Cho growled in the way that girls have of being exasperatedly ferocious, "You just aren't—,"

"…'E'S GOT IT! HE'S GOT THE SNITCH! 150-0, Gryffindor _WINS_ THE REMATCH!"

Both Ravenclaws snapped their heads up at the faintly heard sentiment, which was followed by a roar, harsh even from as far away as the quidditch field. Then Cho gave a cry of frustration that she just _had_ to speak Japanese, and Luna said pleasantly, "Oh my, Hiei-san is quite a good Seeker, wouldn't you say?"

**lll**

Hagrid took up his cross bow, shifted his coat on his shoulders, and went out his back door into the pumpkin patch, Fang galloping out after him. The half-giant bellowed for the baying boarhound to shut up, and the two of them stepped briskly across Hagrid's "backyard" and into the Forbidden Forest.

Every other evening, starting at the beginning of November and ending in late December, when the children left for break, Hagrid hunted deer and elk (the two most mortal creatures in the forest) for the Hogwart's dinner table.

For at about mid-December that sort of game began to move to the higher ground of the mountains. By the first of January, most of them had taken off the school grounds, and would not return until spring.

And November _was_ when the season started, after all.

And thus Hagrid and his dog would go through the forest and hunt the lanky creatures, since Fang would track them down (quiet for once in his yippy life), and Hagrid would _take_ them down.

But he hadn't been having much luck, recently.

Usually, the ordinary creatures would roam closest to the school, in the clearer part of the woods, away from where the most lethal and bizarre beings thrived – but for the last couple weeks, they had been unusually scant.

Some of the more fearless creatures, like the unicorns, for instance, he hadn't seen since July. He couldn't blame them; lately the forest had felt off to him somehow. He'd opted to talk to Dumbledore about the issue at the time of when the Headmaster had agreed to meet with Harry, Ron, and Hermione over Hermione's conspiracy theories.

And all of it worried him some, but for now he had to hunt.

So he and Fang trudged on through the woods much farther than they'd had to in past.

The minutes ticked by, and then half-hours, and soon the sun fully set and the hunting trip began to look like nothing more than a very long walk. The worry was starting to get to Hagrid; he'd usually had at least sighted a doe by now, and still there was nothing.

More walking, more waiting. Finally, they came to the entrance of a clearing, and Fang began to bark. Hagrid, shocked at his dog's noise (he was generally stark silent on hunts, especially when they came upon game), then became more concerned about the contents of the clearing attacking them, rather than fleeing.

Ever since last year, the centaurs had been unfriendly towards the wizards of Hogwarts (and all other magical humans, for that matter), even dangerous. To see four or five of them gathered around the corpse of a bull elk made him uneasy.

"Fang! Settle down, settle down, yeh' great, dumb dog!" Hagrid hissed at the dog, shaking him by the gruff of the neck to settle him. The animal immediately retreated around behind him, his tail between his legs.

"Hagrid," One of the taller centaurs called to him. He recognized it as Alexandros, one of the older centaurs.

The rest of the group came up in front of their kill, tense, pawing and stomping the ground. Alexandros, however, stayed completely still.

"This is not a good time for you to be in the forest, Hagrid," Three of them suddenly looked up at the stars, frowned deeper than they'd been, and looked back to the half-giant. "Pluto has been shining fiercely since July, you know. It is not a good time to be out amongst the trees, even for centaurs."

"Wha' could yeh' be talkin' abou', Alex?" Hagrid asked, disturbed this time. He remembered, the last time he'd been in the forest and another planet, Mars, had been bright, You-Know-Who had almost killed Harry. But then what could Pluto entitle?

"Pluto is bright tonight, every night now-days, since _their_ constant warring," The centaur repeated, "You'd best leave your hunting to the outer forest's regions from now on.

"And take heed, Hagrid – light is, of any daytime, the least safe. Thepresencesat the castle keep Pluto from coming too close to the caste, but you needn't go very far to meet them, anyway.

"And I fear Mars might burn if—,"

"_Alexandros_!" A dune centaur spat, "How dare you talk so much? You want Bane to send you off like Firenze?"

"Fine, then," He replied when the others of his group agreed. "Remember, Hagrid. I do not hold fault against you; you have been a friend to us for many years."

And then the centaurs turned and several of them knelt to their horse-knees, tying the hooves of the elk with rope to a spear. They stood, and then the hunting party marched off into the woods without looking back.

Hagrid was out of the forbidden forest in not a tenth of the time he had been in it, Fang hurtling along behind him, keeping pace with his own massive legs.

Something was rather wrong with the Forbidden Forest.

**lll**

The next day, Hermione, Ron, and Harry (his shoulder blade fresh and healed) stood in front of Dumbledore nervously while Hagrid twiddled his thumbs in the corner.

Well, in reality, Ron, Harry, and Hagrid were the only nervous bodies; Hermione was complacent, holding a few feet of parchment composed neatly of reasons why the foreigners were evil and, quite possibly (since this was Hermione one spoke of), different ways to impede them.

"Thank you for recovering so promptly, Harry," Dumbledore said quietly, nodding to him. Harry returned the gesture, and Dumbledore continued, "Ms. Granger. It has come to my understanding that you have some ideas about the foreigners?"

"Yes, sir – you wanted us to show you?" She replied. The professor nodded and gestured to the paper she held.

"All right, well, there's something wrong with the foreigners. There's tons of evidence, you'll see – such as, during the last Hogsmeade trip, the three of them followed Harry, Ron, and I _everywhere_, except for up to the Shrieking Shack – which, since they all believe in demons, makes _perfect_ sense, because they must have heard that it's supposedly haunted, and then didn't want to risk going there, right?"

Dumbledore pondered that for a moment; then he nodded in acceptance, and Hermione beamed, continuing with more enthusiasm, "So they were obviously stalking us. That, and Harry also gets followed by them when Ron or I aren't with him – I've detailed some of the instances in my report—,"

"Just keep going, Ms. Granger. I believe if you'll leave it for me on my desk, I shall find the time to read it in detail."

She nodded and said: "Then there's the fact that the foreigners have been rather tired recently, and that they get bruises and cuts and things without any real reason. So they _probably_ are still sparring, during the night so it won't interfere with their classes—,"

"Which would also mean," Dumbledore interrupted quietly, glancing to one of his desk's drawers, "that they are breaking the rules I set down for them about using their Japanese magic," Then he glanced up at Hermione genially, "But continue, Ms. Granger; I'm just an old man muttering."

"Well, this is all rather suspicious, right, Professor?" She said, rifling through her parchment for a moment before proceeding, "I've done a bit of research, and they shouldn't have to rely on such a fierce training regimen as actual combat to keep their bodies in shape, if they were truly just students. They have to have a more legitimate reason, which made me think that, maybe, they're preparing to use their powers for force at some point – not against demons (because of course they don't exist), but for other reasons," Hermione took an even breath, checked her notes again, and said, "I know it seems like a bit of a stretch, but I think that Japan has sided with You-Kn – ahm, Lord Vol-Voldemort—," Both Hagrid and Ron shuddered, "—to gain control over England. You know, Professor, you just_ have _to, that England hasn't gotten along with Japan for a _really_ long while, and it doesn't make sense that the people would just suddenly forfeit their grudge and go off to 'study' here.

"Japan's Minister probably made a pact with Voldemort, and then sent Yusuke, Minamino, and Hiei (and probably others, too, who work with Voldemort, more like soldiers) for him to use.

"I think what he's using them for, is to gather information about Harry, what he's doing, etc.; that's why they always follow him, they're _spying_!

"And it would certainly all make sense about why Yusuke and Hiei, though being rather— erm—more mischievous, listen to so Minamino dutifully; they're all sort-of a part of the Death Eaters, _but_, Minamino's the only one who officially has the Dark Mark – he never took off his shirt when they sparred that once, even though it would have been most logical.

"I know I'm not sure why he's the only one with the Mark, maybe it's because he's the most evil – oh all _right_," Hermione said, irritated when Ron snorted and rolled his eyes, "not _quite_ like that, but you know what I mean! He's in _Slytherin_, after all; the only one of them. It _has_ to count for something."

"If you're Loony Lovegood," He replied.

"_Ronald_, you _can't_ deny that some of the—!"

Dumbledore cleared his throat, silencing both of them. "I think you've brought up some valid points, Ms. Granger; but you have to consider, Voldemort is a one-man show. If he is to get help, it has to be completely under his control, and I believe Japan is too proud to be underling to something it holds grudge against.

"I think, perhaps, that Japan is not collaborating with Voldemort, but taking advantage of his presence to expand its magical – and perhaps even muggle – territory. Whether they intend to defeat Voldemort after, or if they will wish to split the region once they conquer us (hypothetically, of course), I do not know.

"But I think you are right in the sense that they're spies. I do not know what their purpose serves, except for the reason that, perhaps, Japan has wished to assassinate Mr. Potter with the hopes that it would clear the way for Voldemort.

"However, Hagrid has asked me to consider, and I have also pondered this thought, that the boys are not capable of harm. Surely they are more violent than most teenagers, but one can quite observe that Mr. Urameshi and Mr. Minamino, despite their obvious flaws, are somewhat courteous. Admittedly, Mr. Jaganshi is not half as good-tempered as his companions, but he has showed some respect towards Hogwarts in at least the sense that he listens when his friends tell him no – and he plays an excellent game of quidditch,"

Harry grimaced at this, and muttered under his breath, "I really would have loved to see that…"

"I assure you, Harry, it was a spectacle to behold," Dumbledore continued pleasantly, "But we must stay on topic. We agree that the three are spies; and now I wish for you three to do a bit of snooping of your own (and you're quite welcome to bring Ginny on all of this). I want you to try to find any information you can, as inconspicuously as possible, about what the foreigners want to know so badly about Harry, or what information they're already gathering.

"At the same time, I want you to be tremendously – and I cannot convey how very much so – careful you must be. You mustn't give out _any_ knowledge in return that they might benefit from at all, and you mustn't go anywhere alone with them, just as a precaution if their intent turns out to be deadly.

"And with that, I leave you with goodnight," He continued his words on a happier, somewhat confusing note; "It is nearly eight-o'-clock, and you know what they say – 'Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man deaf, dumb, and blind in the eyes.' Scuttle off, now."

"But Sir," Hermione started, and Ron groaned. She gave him a Look before saying, "I know I don't have any proof for this last statement – it's just something I wanted to leave you with—,"

"Ah, yes, I suppose you wish to speak about the recent destruction done to Diagon Alley," Dumbledore smiled sadly. "I have, in fact, been contemplating that extensively, as well. You mean to connect it to the foreigners, yes?"

"Well, really, it was just a thought—,"

"A perfectly valid one, Ms. Granger. I've read the papers, and I _have_ heard of the astonishing feat of kindness Mr. Minamino preformed for Mr. Weasley's sister.

"I also am aware that, the night I forbade them not to use their Japanese magic as punishment (you may not know this, I suppose, but I am telling you now), I also confiscated Mr. Jaganshi's sword and Mr. Minamino's remarkable collection of seeds. And in the same night they were stolen out of my office, coincidentally the night Diagon Alley was also attacked, as you could call it.

"So yes, I agree, it would be very possible for Mr. Jaganshi and Mr. Minamino to be the thieves. I will not yet fully consider Mr. Urameshi, for the sole reason that the cigarettes I took from _him_ were still in their proper place."

"But Dumbledore," Harry interrupted, "don't you think this is a little far-fetched? They're just sixteen, same as us—,"

"But Harry, have you been trained since infanthood how to defend yourself against specters who could once kill hundreds of muggles, and for that matter wizards, in a few minutes? They might struggle learning spell casting, and how to brew a potion, but I have no doubt that they have skills that you would consider far beyond your ability."

"Then they're extremely dangerous!" Harry argued, his voice rising in pitch, "Why are we stepping around them so delicately? If we have so much dirt on them, why don't we just turn them into the Ministry of Magic and—!"

"Harry, most of this is based on theory and hypothetical situations. For all we are sure of – which I rather doubt, by the way – this is a mere gargantuan string of coincidences, and all our speculation is wrong. Japan would be outraged at us if we accused it wrongly of fault so early in the game, despite apparent evidence, and we would start a war that never existed in the first place. And I'm afraid that fighting two wars against two formidable enemies at the same time would be a death sentence for Britain – it is just unfortunate that it seems to be what we will be doing quite soon if we _don't_ act.

"That's why I'm assigning this job to you three; we need more _facts_ about them, so we can catch them as quickly as possible if they're plotting something, and clear their names with the Order if not.

"I haven't notified the Ministry, because as you know, it is infected with spies from Voldemort's side, and we don't want this information leaking out; that, and the Minister is, frankly, floundering in his new position. He needs to assure the people that things are being taken care of, but he doesn't know where to start. I fear the potential of finding a trio of spies, who might be working for Voldemort, would be the perfect trigger, and he might jump the gun.

"But as I said, you must be off to bed now. You see, I promised to update your parents, Mr. Weasley, on what the three of you have so far deducted right after this.

"And don't fret; I shall speak to you soon if anything arises," Dumbledore smiled at them warmly. "_Goodnight_."

Ron and Hermione said their goodbyes and turned to leave. But Harry didn't go.

"Don't worry," He said to them, "I want to talk to Dumbledore alone." Ron shrugged at him, and the three agreed to meet back up in the Common Room after Harry was done. Then they left.

"Yes, Harry?"

"Sir, I don't mean to be bold, but I _really_ think that something's up with them. Hermione did say that they tend to be around me when one of my friends isn't, but that's not the only thing that's strange. I mean, I don't mind talking to them by myself, it's not awkward, but whenever it's just us, I feel uneasy," Harry fidgeted, itched the back of his hand, "Once, when Hiei and I were walking to Defense Against the Dark Arts, I said something that made him angry; and when he glared at me, my scar prickled. I didn't tell Hermione because I thought she'd go insane…" He didn't finish the sentence, '_and I hate to talk about my scar_.' "…And at first I thought it had something t' do with Lord Voldemort, but I'm not really sure how that would work…"

When the boy looked up, Dumbledore's eyes were narrowed. After a moment he said, "Well yes, Harry, that is interesting," There was a pause and then he continued, "I believe I will have to ponder that more before I can give you an answer."

Harry shrugged, and then he bade goodnight and left. Then Hagrid come forward from the corner of the room.

"Dumbledore, might I be talkin' to yeh' now? I woudn' want _those_ three t' be hearin' about this, es'pec'ly since they migh' come t' go about tryin' ter' fix it."

"Of course, Hagrid. Go on."

"There's somethin' wrong in the Forbidden Forest. The school, I've been thinkin', too, maybe.

"I've been out there huntin' game, fer' the school b'fore winter sets too far in, an' all, an' lately, I've had t' go much farther than I usually hafta'. It's like th' animals're too scared t' come near the school, or somethin's in the forest edge tha' makes 'em wanna' stay away from there."

"That's strange," Dumbledore murmured, "Are you quite sure, Hagrid? Most of the dangerous animals keep to the back of the forest."

"I know, Dumbledore, and I'm sure. See, durin' the trip I took th' day b'fore, I met up wit' a group o' centaurs…" And then Hagrid related the experience with Pluto and Mars, and all such things.

By the time Hagrid finished, Dumbledore had stood and was pacing his office.

"Ms. Granger suggested that the three foreigners were still sparring. Probably at night, since they have class during the day."

Hagrid processed this for a moment, then gasped, "Sir, are you meanin' t' say tha' what was in th' forest yesterday was the boys? How could they be as dangerous as t' frigh'en the centaurs?"

"Perhaps it is their type magic which bothers them so. If they're sparring with Japanese magic, and the centaurs are witnessing it, it would disturb them since they've never seen it before. You'll remember, Hagrid, wand-less magic in our wizardry is very hazardous and very difficult, while the original Western magic is used exclusively without aid. Mind, it is obviously of slightly different make than ours – we know this to be true, because otherwise only very experienced humans could use it effectively, yet we know children who prevail in it.

"But the centaurs know nothing of Japanese magic, and so _all _magic done without a wand seems dangerous. Even coming from a few simple boys."

"Oh, well… Dumbledore?"

"Yes?"

"What did they mean abou' Pluto and whatnot? I never was real brigh' in Astrology…"

"Ah; well, fear not, Hagrid, for neither have I. My memory has slackened significantly as of the last fifty years or so. However, I do know that in Roman mythology, Mars was the god of War. The planet Mars was named after such; and in present-day Astrology, Mars symbolizes fire and violence, most generally.

"Pluto was the Roman god of the Underworld. It would represent death, darkness, the afterlife…Hell, even, if you were to Catholicize it a bit," Then he frowned, "That is most interesting. I must commend you, Hagrid—,"

"Sir, _what's_ interestin'?" Hagrid pressed. Dumbledore could be somewhat scatterbrained when he was musing.

But it seemed that wasn't the reason Dumbledore had skipped the "interesting" part; he sighed and asked, "Would you be subtle if I told you, Hagrid? My asking is not because I think you dense, of course, and I certainly don't expect you to go after these creatures with curiosity, but it's rather disturbing."

"_Please_, Sir."

"Hagrid, what is associated in Christianity with Hell?"

"Well, fire, underground…th' Devil, demons—," Hagrid suddenly paled.

"Having evolved with Japanese exorcists, I would think that they would be able to tell an Eastern wizard from one whom uses the Japanese magic; and thus, are more efficient at keeping away from them. That is why they are not there during the night, if you consider the boys sparring, and there during the day; and over-all disturbing the animal population.

"But in all this information, how demons are entering our grounds I find particularly disconcerting. I shall have to speak with some of the older headmaster portraits about it more extensively, in case I have forgotten a flaw in Hogwart's bulwark magic that a demon could take advantage of… Either or, Mr. Moody. He would know quite a bit about demons, wouldn't you think, Hagrid?"

"But they haven' been seen in a couple o' hundred _years_, Dumbledore!"

Indeed, it was disturbing to Hagrid. It was down right frightening; demons were _not_ creatures to be coddled, let alone contained. They were comparable to merfolk, or centaurs in make, but always vicious, towards humans in particular. There was a reason the Ministry had permitted the extermination of demons, before they could feast the muggle human race out of existence.

"You can't say you believe those green monsters were trolls – or that the three foreigners were unsure of what to do with them. It was one of the more cleanly-executed slayings I believe I've ever seen – at least for their age.

"Besides, whether demons are extinct or not, I am starting to believe those three boys coming here has a little to do with them; or at the very least, the demons have appeared because of the three's migration."

Hagrid had been twisting the hem of his coat about the time the subject of demons intersected with the foreigners. He was quiet for a while before he finally mumbled, "Aww Dumbledore, this's too confusin'…"

"I know, Hagrid. I am quite glad I have Ms. Granger's list so that I won't forget a good portion of all the information – would you like a copy? I shall be making others for the Order, of course, and you are quite welcome to one if you can keep it discreet."

"Tha'd be wonderful, Sir."

"Excellent, then! I shall have it to you by tomorrow. You are dismissed, if you'd like…"

"Aren' we gonna' tell Arthur an' Molly, though? So's they can pass it on t' th' rest of the Order?"

"Don't worry about that, I can do it alone."

"Oh. Well all righ', Dumbledore; good nigh' to 'yeh."

"Of course, Hagrid. See you in the morning."

And finally, Hagrid left and Dumbledore was alone.

He sighed and walked over to his fireplace, grabbed a handful of green powder from a silver pot on the mantel, and threw it into the cinders, saying, "The Burrow." He knelt on the flagstone floor and stuck his head amongst the green flames that suddenly alit, and immediately caught the smell of a crock pot.

"Oh! Albus, how nice of you to drop in!" Dumbledore peered up at where Mr. Weasley towered above him, seemingly just arrived home, from the way he was hanging his traveling coat on a hat rack.

"Yes, hello, Arthur; I certainly hope this isn't a bad time, I can smell that Molly's been cooking…"

"Oh no, Molly would be fine with you here – you're going to give us the report, yes? And that's very important, let alone _I_ have some exciting news of my own to tell! Why don't you just step through and join us for a late supper?"

And so it was that Dumbledore found himself seated at the Weasley's kitchen table, eating roast with carrots and peas, though he'd packed himself full of treacle fudge and buttered bread earlier.

"…We sent a letter out to Ron and Ginny telling them about it, but it's Errol, Albus, and he might not make it there for a few days…"

"Just tell me already, Arthur, you're drowning me in suspense," He replied happily, cutting a carrot very carefully into elevenths.

"Well, you see, they were handing out flyers at the ministry, about the foreigner boys you have…"

Dumbledore started, and he cut the carrot with such a shake of his hand so that it was lopsided.

"What type of flyer?" He hadn't heard of this. _How_ could he not have heard of this?

Mr. Weasley's excited smile suddenly dulled a little at his worry. "Erm, well, it was about the fact that they wanted to see more of English culture than simply Hogwarts, and had requested that if there was a wizard family who had children in Hogwarts, who were willing to house them over the holidays, that they should write back to the mentioned address to set it up; first come, first serve. Didn't you authorize—?"

"Arthur, please, _please_ tell me that you _did not_ sign yourselves up for this!"

Mr. Weasley merely looked at him, shocked.

"We thought that if you hadn't warned against it at all, it meant that those boys were fine. We haven't really heard much about them since the last report, you know…and that was mostly speculation. I actually tried to get a hold of you once to ask about it, while Arthur was at work, but you were too busy to take a call at that time…"

_Why_ hadn't he heard of this?

"Here…" And Mrs. Weasley stood up and scuttled quickly in the sitting room, then back with a small sheet of parchment. She handed it to Dumbledore and said, "There's the confirmation letter we received in the mail, just a few days ago…"

"Of course. I should have listened to Harry," He muttered, examining Rufus Scrimgeour's curly signature at the bottom, right above several Japanese characters labeled as Enma of Japan, Minister of Magic. "The Ministry doesn't know there's anything suspicious about them. They would think that, if they suggested it, it would be a fine idea. Another way to buddy-up with Japan."

"Albus, I think you should tell us that report now. Molly, dear, find me a quill, please, and I'll write to the Minister to ask about changing it."

"And we can always send the children to Grimwauld's Place for Christmas, after all," Mrs. Weasley worried as she went back into the sitting room.

**lll**

Koenma _tried_ to look mean, he really did. He'd rehearsed the entire scolding he would give his detectives, and practiced the scowl he would wear the entire time in his mirror.

But you really couldn't blame the god for faltering when the first thing to greet him from England was the enraged glower of a "S"-class fire demon.

No really, it was terrifying.

"Why in the seven hells are _you_ contacting us? We've nothing new to tell you."

"How dare you talk to me that way, Hiei, after what you've done?" Koenma replied, frowning around his pacifier, "You put Kurama on the line _this minute_ or I—,"

Suddenly the screen went dark, and just when he was starting to yell at his ogres to see what the problem was, it brightened, and, in the moonlight, Koenma saw fingers turning the communicator around to face a livid fox demon.

Thank his father that it was a human version and not the original Kurama; he might have flinched openly.

_That stupid mother of his—! _

"What do _you_ want?"

"Not _you_, too!"

"What would you expect from an employee whose pay has been docked in a publicly humiliating fashion? Get on with it, you interrupted our spar."

"Hmph! The _nerve_!" Koenma complained, giving an irate suck on his pacifier. But he'd skip the lecture; he didn't want to deal with them quite yet, they were still too angry.

So he grabbed the report Botan had prepared for him and shuffled through the papers. He cleared his throat and said, "My father is dissatisfied with the progress you've made so far, so you'll need to change a few things. He thinks you need to do better about killing those demons, they're just "_C_"-class, at most, anyway—,"

"Tell your father the few demons we've come into contact with, excluding the ones who attacked the quidditch stadium, disappear near the very moment they become aware of us, along with the wizard they were with. We've suspected teleportation is involved, but I have not heard of anything like it from the wizards, and I felt it was too conspicuous of me ask."

"I thought you had those human girls wrapped around your finger?" He replied, confused; Kurama was suppose to be a mastermind when it came to manipulation.

"I _do_, of course, though Chang has been acting rather strangely as of late. I'll figure out the problem and we'll get back to you on that. But I have found, Koenma-sama, that when women, and girls in particular, wish to flirt, it's considered rude to move the topic to other things; and being in Slytherin, rude is the very last thing I need to be considered among a population consumed by gossip.

"And, being that I am the main subject matter of said talk, I haven't been able to get a sane word out of one of them in weeks." Koenma heard Yusuke laugh in the background.

"And the only girl who doesn't fawn over me thinks if I breathe the wrong way, let alone Yusuke or Hiei, it's suspicious. Let alone, we're supposed to be familiar with at least the popular portion of wizard magic, and since I am unaware if teleportation is widely practiced or not, I dare not ask _her_. Do you know anything of the subject?"

"Well, they _do_ have a form of teleportation called Apparition. The situation of a wizard gaining their Apparition license is comparable to a typical human gaining their driver's license, so it's fine you don't know yet, as it's a very big deal.

"It's also rather dangerous, and wizards who do not Apparate properly are subject to a thing called splicing, in which they might leave body parts behind," Kurama frowned slightly, and someone muttered, "Ouch."

"Yes, I've heard the term used before, in class and such. They say that sixth years are to be eligible for lessons in the spring, correct?"

"I believe that's the time the wizards do the testing.

"But we're getting off of track," Koenma said, flipping over another paper. "Anyway, wizards can't Apparte to or from Hogwarts grounds because of an enchantment put on the place, so I guess you're going _beyond_ the school's boundaries to hunt the demons down?"

"Yes, we're doing rounds, one of us every night; the demons don't dare come onto the grounds during the night (when we have time to hunt them), because they sense the school is covered in our energy, and they fear it.

"For that matter, _anything_ non-human fears it."

"Well, we don't want you going off school grounds, just in case something happens."

Kurama "humph"ed. "Did you know they keep unicorns in the forest? And they aren't the only things magical, as well; there are winged horses and imps and all sorts of ridiculous things thrown in with the normal, all of which won't come within a half-kilometer of the school nowadays. The owls are the only ones, and even then, they hate to be within close proximity of us. Hogwarts is very much protected, will be very much protected months after we leave, until the last energy traces disappear. Why won't you allow it?"

"To _begin_, Kurama, the _last_ infamous time you and Hiei went out of bounds, you absolutely _destroyed _a key wizard marketplace! This is part of your punishment. That, and as you said, humans are pretty much immune to you three's demon energy; it can't be sensed by untrained wizards, and so while Hogwarts _may _be protected from everything with that sense, Death Eaters are happily oblivious – and thankfully, it would be catastrophic if they knew you were here.

"But over all, it's just too dangerous for the Potter kid.

"Because of this, Father's decided that it's too much ground to cover for just you three, especially since you're playing guard to Potter. So, we've decided to send in some more people to help you – you'll have the same jobs and priorities, of course, but only within school boundaries. _These_ people will take care of the same duties _outside_ of Hogwarts, so you'll not have to worry about the demons outside your territory. You probably won't even meet, anyway.

"Don't worry about vacations – I've been working on that for a while, and I believe I've gotten the solution. You'll know what I decide before Christmas.

"And also, I'll be sending someone to help you with your goings-on inside the castle, and she should be arriving within the week under the guise of another foreign student, (I already confirmed it with the Headmaster last week). Now, I've told her that she should be trying to aim for the Slytherin table, so that you, Kurama, don't always have to go find the Gryffindors to talk to one of ours about a development. You can thank me later.

"Besides that, I've nothing else _real _important to tell you…" Koenma muttered, putting his papers aside, "Except that – well, you better put Yus—,"

The screen went black, and after he'd glared an ogre into telling him that the system hadn't short circuited, the other end had simply hung up, the god swore in his head and thought, _Well then, it'll serve them _right _when Keiko's packages get delivered_…

**lll**

The next day, the three demons sat for breakfast at the Ravenclaw table, next to Luna Lovegood. Cho Chang was before her, Marietta by her side (who glared at Kurama as he sat down).

And as said kitsune had picked up on, Chang was abnormally unperceptive to his charms, and basically ignored everyone, save her eggs and Luna; the latter of whom kept a steady and spacey conversation moving between the five.

The mail came on schedule, even if the amount was unusually heavy.

A very large crane dropped own next to Kurama's plate, bearing two bento boxes in its talons, and a Japanese-addressed letters in its beak. Another landed in Hiei's bacon, again with two bento boxes and two letters; and Kiyoshi dropped yet fourth and fifth lunch boxes, and a Howler into Yusuke's lap without pause, not daring to linger 'round them as the cranes had.

Hiei took the envelopes from his bird (which then lazily took off) and said, his eyebrows shooting up, "It's from Yukina?" Then he paused, and as he read the next one he muttered, frowning, "And the Reaper?"

Suddenly Kurama was smiling widely, reading his parcels (his crane stood up and flew away). He said, "It's from _Okaasan_! She made me bento!"

Hiei snorted, pulling at the ribbon of his Yukina-box as Yusuke swore at the Howler.

A smart-ass down the table suddenly called out (for the large, white birds were certainly unusual), "That from your girlfriend, Minamino?"

And happily, most likely without thinking, he replied, "No, my mother!"

And then the Ravenclaw table was alive with snickering and giggles, and Kurama immediately looked rather annoyed.

"I think that's wonderful you're so excited, Minamino-kun," Luna drawled calmly, staring at the smoking red letter Yusuke had shoved into his orange juice.

"Y-_Yusuke_!" Cho hissed, standing up from the table with Marietta quickly, backing away, "You can't do that to a Howler, it'll _explode_ if you don't open—!"

"_What_? Kur-_a_-_maaa_! You said fire can't live under water!"

Various Ravenclaws suddenly fled the table, sharing looks of incredulity.

"To begin, Yusuke, fire is not alive; and secondly, that's _human_ fire, not _wizard_—oh for Inari's _sake_, just—!" And he lithely plucked the now-burning paper from the goblet and flung it into the air in one motion, as Yusuke had done before.

Hiei snatched his presents to his side and glared up at the explosion as, again, people escaped the tables in bouts of screaming and swearing.

In fact, by the time the teachers began to quiet everyone, all had left but the three boys (who smirked, frowned, and positively beamed when the scratchy English started), and Luna (who stared up at the Howler like it was a firework).

"_URAMESHI YUSUKE_! HOW _DARE_ YOU NOT TELL ME THE LETTER ADDRESS SO I COULD WRITE YOU?" Yusuke grinned apologetically at the falling debris, "STUPID _WIZARD _DON'T HAVE SOMETHING SIMPLE AS THE TELEPHONE (and don't try and tell me otherwise, Koenma-sama said so!), AND I _TOLD YOU_ WE HAVE TO WRITE!" There was a pause as Keiko took a breath.

"That your girlfriend, Yusuke-kun?"

He shook his head, "Nope! My—,"

"BUT _NO_!_ I _HAVE TO HEAR FROM _HIM_ INSTEAD OF YOU! WHAT KIND OF A LOUSY JERK _ARE_ YOU? _ARGH_!"

And then there was a pause, and a somewhat sheepish mumble followed, "And I packed you _bento_. They are you favorite, _onigiri_ and _daifuku_, and some _tonjiru_. The English don't eat like in Japan, _ne_? Well, there.

"Yukina said something about packing food for everyone; make sure they sent that okay. She wanted me to tell you and Kurama personally she miss you, since she sent you no letters. Tell Hiei and Kurama _I _said hi, too; and tell Kurama that Aoi keep coming to me asking about him.

"Oh, and Atsuko made me promise to say pick up some _sake _and cigarettes on your way home, though I be not sure what good telling you might be just now.

"Koenma-sama told me this type of letter scream at you. You know I take English for college, so ask your stupid English friend how I do so far. My grade is a 'B', I want know what is wrong.

"_Anou_, I guess, love Keiko.

"AND DON'T FORGET TO WRITE!"

A Japanese curse echoed throughout the Great Hall before the final reminisce died.

Yusuke was hugging his bento box marked, 'From Keiko'.

Most of the students were staring at him, dazed; but soon this broke, and Cho and her friend and other Ravenclaws were walking back as Hiei and Yusuke had resumed their seats. The shock had died out into muddled whispering.

Harry and Ron were coming over to them, as the two tables were side-by-side, and Harry asked Yusuke, his eyebrows raised, "Er, who was _that_, Yusuke?"

He replied proudly, "My wife. She's wonderful, isn't she?"

Kurama vigorously shook his head "yes" behind Yusuke's back, while Hiei smirked somewhat wickedly and mouthed, "no."

Harry said "yes."

Yusuke laughed and began to untie the box he'd been holding. "Gah, I haven't had _onigiri_ in such a long _time_! I wonder if she put pickled plums in the middle!"

Luna said something to him in scratchy Japanese, and then the four were all conversing in the language. The two Gryffindors shrugged at each other, then hurried away at the sight of Professor McGonagall charging down from the teacher's table, the fire in her eyes set on the foreigners, and Snape at her back.

They would elaborate to Hermione who Yusuke had said "Keiko" was, and maybe she'd find something useful of the information.

"She probably _will_, you know; I'm starting t' figure out she's bloody well capable at making up conspiracy plots."

**lll**

Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama each had their theories about who this "she" was that would be sent by Koenma to "help them out."

(Well sort of.)

Yusuke had figured it would be one of the Spirit Detectives the god had previously said was not quite ready (maybe this one had finally completed enough missions or training).

Hiei had growled that they didn't need help, "the brat" was delusional.

And Kurama wouldn't say, though he made his frown whenever the subject came up.

Eventually, it came to be that two days after the morning of Keiko's Howler, the letters had been read so extensively their creases had flattened, (Shiori's to Kurama and Yukina's to Hiei (the one he'd had from Botan had been thrown away unattended)) and the lunches had been depleted.

At the dinner of said second day, at the start of the feast (in which the three had taken up seat with the Gryffindors), Dumbledore stood with a smile and gestured for silence.

The Great Hall quieted, and he said, "It seems to be that we have treated the Japanese so very comfortably, they have decided it a grand enough place so that they might invite friends: Japan's minister has sent along another student to join us here at Hogwarts, as things have so far gone so very swimmingly." Many of the students began to whisper at this, exchanging looks of skepticism and hilarity.

"The student will be arriving quite soon, and so I wish your stomachs will all allow him or her, the honor of dining at the same time as the rest of us," Silence.

"In other words, we shall be waiting to start the feast until they arrive," Groaning, and someone down the Slytherin table swore loudly.

Yusuke was practically bouncing on the bench with a mix of anticipation of both the new girl and the feast. Kurama elbowed him in the side and hissed in Japanese, 'Stop fidgeting, you're driving me insane.'

Yusuke flipped him off with his arms, and which he then crossed, taking instead to listening to Harry and Hermione's school-related conversation.

Casual banter commenced for several more minutes throughout the tables, before McGonagall (previously absent from her place at the teacher's table) pushed through the tall double doors with a girl behind her, probably not more than sixteen.

She had blue hair, pulled back into a pony tail, curling at the ends. She was wearing the Hogwarts uniform, walking with a spring in her step and a pink earring swinging from her ear.

Her normally pink eyes were brown.

Hiei looked as if he might die right there, gripping the table with his hand so hard that the wood started to splinter. Kurama saw this immediately, and sighed disappointedly while Yusuke gaped.

_I'd really hoped we were wrong_.

_Hmph. Didn't I say there was a reason he didn't name the girl?_

_Didn't I trust you? _

_You _trust meHuh_. Do I ever tell you just _how_ much you entertain me? _

_Why are you always_ _so _rude_? You're _unbelievable _sometimes—_

_Case and point_.

This whole time, Botan had been sweeping her gaze across the tables, and soon she found the three boys seated with the Gryffindors.

Immediately (and to the elder two's horror), she stopped dead in her tracks, and with an audible breath and massive flourish of her hand, she yelled, "_HIIIII_, BOYS!"

Kurama had his hand wrapped around Hiei's bicep before any of the humans could blink (or whisper, which they then did), let alone Hiei could move too incriminatingly. The demon in question had stood, his free hand at his waist where his sword usually hung.

He hissed, 'I _HATE_ her—!' and then Yusuke started laughing. Loudly.

McGonagall had turned around by this time, and reinstructed Botan to follow her. She, more gleefully if possible, skipped along behind the teacher, giggling at Hiei's distress, Kurama's exasperation, and Yusuke's own amusement.

When she reached the teacher's table, McGonagall put down the stool she had been carrying and the sorting hat, which did not sing as it usually did, but merely sat. Dumbledore welcomed her off the train, introduced her to the school and its rules, and then motioned for her to put the hat on, with the explanation that it would sort her into one of the four houses.

Botan complied; and (just as Koenma had told them) after a few seconds the hat shouted, "_SLYTHERIN_!" and McGonagall took it from her with a slightly surprised expression.

Allegedly pleasant children to evil-bad-house: 2. Rationale: 0.

Botan, rather than going over to her actual house, made like Kurama and bounced over to the boys with another greeting.

"I bet you're _surprised_, _aren't_ you?" She said cheerfully as Dumbledore announced the start of the feast, and the magical plates filled. Kurama and a shocked Lavender made room for her on the bench, and she sat down _between_ the two, continuing with, "Koenma-sama figured that, since I _usually_ go with you boys, _I_ should just come when he needed a fourth! Ayame's so kind, she's taking up my load while I'm gone," Then she pouted, "Too bad Kuwabara couldn't come, though; it would have been _just_ like old times, wouldn't it?"

"Hey, Botan," Yusuke managed when Hiei's continued stance disturbed Hermione so that she asked him about it, and he'd taken his seat. Kurama still held his arm as Yusuke tried an introduction, "Ev-everyone, this is—,"

"Reikai, Botan! (Though you can call me Botan-san, if you'd like!) And I simply _must_ say, I just LOVE these uniforms! They're _sooo_ ADORABLE (and you know, it's giving Keiko-chan's old uniform a run for its money!)" She giggled.

Then she stopped abruptly and shook her finger at Yusuke, "Oh! That reminds me – you made her so angry, you know! She's so distressed, she's getting a 'B ' in English; and it's not helping her that the very place you've gone off to is _Great Britain_, of _all_ coincidences—!"

"I know, Botan, I got the letter—,"

"—Howler, Yusuke—,"

"—Howler she sent," He grinned, "I almost forgot she had a set of lungs on her," Then he turned his attention to Kurama, while Botan began to receive rather baffled introductions. His expression turned sly. 'Just look at Brown, Kurama, you are sooo _screwed_—!'

But it had seemed Koenma had already thought of the shockwaves that would come from a girl from Japan being put into Slytherin, and had talked about it to Botan. Basically, it would make it harder for Kurama (being that he already knew her) to continue with his exploitation, and thus something _had_ to be done about it.

One of the easiest ways was to make it so that it was obvious that Botan hadn't any interest in the redhead.

And Yusuke _was_ married, after all…

Kurama, being an excellent "guesser" (as Yusuke so eloquently called it), had anticipated this happening; hence his silence throughout the other two's ponder.

And he tightened his grip on Hiei's arm as Botan skillfully put the act into play:

"_Hiii_ei-kuuun!" She squealed, almost _bashfully_, having already finished speaking with her table-mates. Said demon stopped mid his 'happy-wretch-is-back-to-haunt-me' sulk, and after a moment, a look of comprehending horror crossed his face.

Everyone within range of the phenomenon gawked.

Yusuke also figured it out about then; and he began to snicker along with Youko in Kurama's head.

Botan continued, in English to secure the "reality" of the façade, "I made you _bento_ with the other girls. Did you like it? I tried my _best_ to—,"

'Oh fuck no. Oh _fuck_—,'

"Hiei-kun, are you listening to me?" She gave him a big set of puppy eyes. "It's very rude, you know, to _ignore_ _me_ like you do—!"

He suddenly stood up, and Kurama went with him, giving him a Look that strayed from Mother Hen-Kurama, towards, Fox Who Ate Mother Hen-Kurama. Hiei returned it and then, with Botan calling worriedly after the shorter of the two, they both briskly left the Great Hall. Botan crossed her arms with a huff, pretending to turn away dejectedly, and Yusuke finally stopped laughing.

Lavender patted her back, suddenly sympathetic; she took the bait, saying, "You like him, don't you?" Parvati, next to her, leaned over so that she could look at Botan.

The reaper gave a sniff and nodded – and then the three were engaged in a female bonding-spree, filled with things like, "he's really very sweet," and, "I guess I believe you."

And so the act went off without a hitch.

Yusuke went on to talk with Seamus and across the table to Neville, smirking abruptly when he felt his friends' aura spike in a spar, somewhere out in the back of the Forbidden Forest.

**

* * *

Footnotes:**

"'**Y-yeah, my mother was Japanese, my father was Chinese—,'"; 'Kay, so the name, Cho, is Japanese (supposedly means, "butterfly" for those of you curious) and the surname, Chang, is Chinese. And because, as a general rule, a woman takes the man's last name, her mother was Japanese and her father was Chinese. **

"**Crumple-Horned Snorkacks"; A mythical monster that even wizards don't believe exists. Or, at least most of them (Luna Darling, as one might assume, is a rather eccentric character).  
****(Tee hee, it sounds like a Doctor Sues thing.)**

"'…**with You-Kn – ahm, Lord Vol-Voldemort—,'"; Later in the series, Hermione decides to try saying Voldemort's actual (fake) name rather than his alias. Because, "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." **

"**Harry grimaced at this, and muttered under his breath, 'I really would have loved to see that…'"; So Harry's a sweet heart, really. He might be desperately jealous over Ginny, but he can appreciate another's "good quidditch skills," even if they're better than his own. His only regrets about Hiei is that he was in the Hospital Wing, so he wasn't able to see the play.  
****Besides, Hiei loathes team sports in general. It's not like they'll be battling for Seeker position any time soon, right? **

"'**But the centaurs know nothing of Japanese magic, and so **_**all **_**magic done without a wand seems dangerous. Even coming from a few teenage boys.'"; Sure, the centaur's have no idea what Japanese magic is; but **_**we**_** know, the actual reason (as stated by Kurama) is that the centaurs, being non-human, can sense their non-human-ness, and **_**that**_** is what they see as dangerous, not necessarily the wand-less magic.  
****However, being that Dumbledore is plenty human, he doesn't know that the Boys aren't, which is why he makes this assumption – he doesn't have all the information to guess correctly. **

"'…**but it's Errol, Albus, and he might not make it there for a few days…'"; Errol is the Weasley's family owl, who's rather bad at delivering messages; hence it might take him a while to reach Hogwarts. **

"'**And I simply **_**must**_** say, I just LOVE these uniforms! They're **_**sooo**_** ADORABLE (and you know, it's giving Keiko-chan's old uniform a run for its money!)'"; So in YYH (I can't remember if it's in just the manga, or both) Botan goes "undercover" at Yusuke's school by dressing up in the school's uniform, because she thinks they're cute. I thought it'd be entertaining (and because it always seems they're depicted as being similar to the Japanese uniforms) if she decided she liked the Hogwarts uniforms, too. **

**NOTES: **'**Kay, so, some of you might be wondering why the whole "demons-art-actually-retard-flying-trolls" came about, and if you'll read six more extensively you'll find the explanation the **_**Daily Prophet**_** gave (and Dumbledore talks about it first scene in here, so read it.)  
****And the whole, "Youko-and-Hiei-ze-best-thieves-got-caught" – well, I really would have liked them **_**not**_** to, but I couldn't've stood it. ****See, **_**I **_**thought that the Boys would be monitored by those invisible cameras that Koenma used to watch Yusuke with when he was on his earliest missions; and since this **_**is **_**still a mission (later, fictional, or neither besides), I figured he'd catch the two in their act, at least at some point along in their scheme, via the cameras.  
****Don't you simply hate omnipresent-ness?  
****And about the "Harry-omfg!-Minamino's-snogging—," (What? You thought **_**he**_** thought he was doin' the nasty? . . . You're so cute. The lot of you are.) "—with-some-random-girl-yck!"  
****He doesn't know crap about multiple personalities (or at least magical ones (which, in this story, Logic got beat by Funny in my assuming that Shuichi-Youko is such)), and so what other idea would he come up with, besides A) fighting (which would be rather strange, 'coz wizards don't fight with their hands, and the only other "wizards" he knows of who **_**do **_**fight with their hands "supposedly" can't get into the Slytherin dorm), or B) snogging?  
****Not anything else, because while he might **_**think**_** about it, I doubt Harry accuses people left and right of shagging. It says nothing 'bout shagging in the book, so I'm leaving it out and make him think of snogging. No matter how much OC writers tell you, Harry doesn't have a sex drive. With their character or any other. (Okays, maybe for Ginny on a really cold day. But other than that, no.)  
****And oh. For those of you curious over why he didn't consider that Minamino was snogging a girl **_**or**_** a boy—he's a sixteen-year-old STRAIGHT guy. Give me a break, Dearies.  
****And to **_**more **_**of you curious folks (I've gotten two questions about it, I'm assuming at least two people hath wondered – and besides we're semi-on the topic), no, I'm not putting anything gay (yaoi or otherwise) in this. I've decided it scares some peoples away, and as I'm not in the position to be scaring peoples (let alone writing anything romantically inclined), it's out.  
****Erm, sorry?**


	8. In which Cult discovers Conspiracy

**Key:  
**"**Talking – English in an English setting / Japanese in a Japanese setting; Japanese heard by a person who speaks only English and visa-versa."  
**'**Talking – Any other language than the "text in the quotation marks."'  
**'_**Telekinesis'  
**__**Thinking / Conscience  
**_

**NOTICE:**** Hey, you lot want me to write these chapters out one-scene at a time? 'Coz the story portion of this's, like, five pages, and I think it's how authors on here usually do it . . .  
****It would certainly straighten out the whole "over-load" thing I'm guessing sometimes happens . . .  
****Even though, it'd make the story a lot longer. I was really only planning twenty chapters at least, but this might make it a lot longer . . .  
****Hey, who knows? I might pop two or three of them out every month instead of one every blue moon . . .  
****Anyway. Tell me what you think. I, of course, have most of the rest of the chapter typed out – but I'll leave you where you are for now.  
****Dot dot dot. **

**And we're back to Koenma's omnipresent cameras.  
****Apparently, I'm not the type to like Keiko. Honestly, I agree with you; but it's probably 'coz she and Yusuke make the awesome-est frickin' couple.  
****Which, on that note, is much cuter than Yusuke-Kurama. I thought they were pretty good friends in the series, and I wasn't aware I was writing them too close; but never the mind, I'm not blaming you, Dearie(s); just 'splainin'. We'll make that the official Declaimer, even though I thought the crappy summery I'd written said something about 'no fanon pairings.'  
****Oh wells.  
****And thank the lot of you for feeding my ego (I think "not-quite-but-verging-on-crack-with-traces-of-plot" sums up my writing style quite nicely, thank you.)  
****And catching the 'Botan-Reikai-Hermione's-a-bleeding-genius-thing. But I'll talk of that in ze NOTES.  
****(And once your eyes get used to it, the bold-ness is not so bold.) **

**Rated T for Teen **

**

* * *

****Chpt. 8**  
**In which The Cult discovers The Conspiracy **

'I _wrote you_, Hiei! I even sent along a note in the box of sweets because I thought that if you wouldn't read my letter, then at _least _you'd tear through the dessert and find it!'

'Hah! You think _I'd _eat something _you _made? You could have _poisoned_ it, you idiot!'

As one might imagine, the night of Botan's first feast, Hiei did not take very kindly to the reaper when she and Yusuke came to join them in the forest, even after having the puss beaten out of him by Kurama.

Presently, said bloody kitsune was having to restrain him by his arms, since, well, Yusuke couldn't, seeing as _he_ was currently incapacitated.

(Laughing that hard can do that to a person.)

Botan wasn't exactly happy about the arrangements, either, but it had appeared that, when Hiei had first gone off on her, she'd attempted to be compassionate; however, after a close call with a Fist of the Mortal Flame and an extensive yelling match, she was just as seething about the arrangement as he.

'You think this is just dandy for _me_, Hiei?' She replied, fussing with the burnt hem of her skirt for the umpteenth time, '_I_ have to pretend to like a _mean_, stupid boy who's _younger_ than me and like, four feet _tall_!'

Hiei's eyes narrowed and he clenched his fists purposefully.

Thankfully, any action he might have attempted was drowned when Botan's skirt broke out into a catchy pop tune. She reached into the pocket on the side of it, pulling out a compact. After giving Yusuke a Look to be quiet, she flicked it open.

'Yes, Koenma-sama?'

'BOTAN! Get the boys! Get them N – wait, who's laughing?'

'It's Yusuke, sir, they're here with me already.'

'Good! But come _here_, it's rude to not face someone when you're talking!'

'Hello, Koenma-sama. I'm not sure what spark of brilliance made you send Botan here – one of the other ferry girls would have been wiser. I don't believe Hiei minds them quite as much.'

'Are you kidding me? I don't want _anyone _pretending to—!'

'Kur-_aaa_-maa! That wasn't very polite!'

'Excuse me, Botan-san – I meant that as fact, rather than an insult.'

'PEOPLE! Pay _attention_! This's _very_ important!'

'Did the Christmas Break plan fall through?' The demons looked to Botan.

'Hey, whatever'd you guys decide about that, anyway?'

'No, but it _almost_ did! Weasley wrote back to ask permission to repeal his offer, but the Minister denied the claim, saying that no on else had offered to fill the position, and it would be insulting to allow the arrangement to break once it'd been confirmed.'

'Wait, _Weas-rey _did _what_?'

Koenma ignored Yusuke, '_However_, we of course found this out with our cameras – and when we zoned in on the Weasley household, so we could see _why _he tried to withdrawal, we found out there's a _conspiracy_!"

And there was silence.

'What? Am I the _only one _who finds this _disturbing_?'

'Sir,' Botan replied, looking rather confused, 'aren't, erm, _we_ a conspiracy? In essence?'

'Humph! I am a _god_, Botan! _I_ decide if we are a conspiracy or not, and we _aren't_!; since you all worship me, we're more like a cult.'

'Hah! Yeah, _right_ – good luck with that, Paci-Ass.'

'I worship Inari, Koenma-sama.'

'I worship _no one_.'

'Erm…'

Koenma huffed, saying, 'You _know_ I could have you—!'

'Koenma-sama, could you please just inform us what relevancy this information has to us?'

'Oh, yes, well… They're a special organization that consists primarily of aurors, or wizard police, that have banded together against Voldemort-sama, outside of the Ministry of Magic. And we have a very big problem.'

'Sir, did you say that _Weas-rey-san_ was apart of this?'

'Yes! – well, kind of; the older members of his family are. See, this _all _started when we were deciding what we would do over the Christmas break about watching Potter. We knew that Potter didn't have good home life – he's an orphan, taken in by his less-than-doting relatives – and with some digging, we found out he usually spends breaks at Weasley's house.

'We also knew his father's a bit of an eccentric – really into normal humans, you know. Collects spark plugs, takes apart electrical devices, etc. So we figured he'd be just as hospitable with _you_ three, being that you're not rudimentary "wizards."'

'So, we arranged something with the Minister of Magic in an effort to get you to stay with him. We made a program that would, in essence, allow you to stay the break with a Ministry employee who has children at Hogwarts. We set it up so all offers came directly to our office, so we could sift through them until we got one from Weasley, and choose it. Everything in _that_ aspect worked out fine.

'But a week later, one of ours we'd planted in the Ministry alerted us that after we'd sent a letter accepting, there had been an attempt to withdraw it. Luckily, like I said, the Minister ended up refusing it because it would have been politically insulting, so everything's still on,' Botan sighed in relief.

'Thank goodness! I didn't want to have to trek around the wilderness with _you three_ all break!'

'We're _staying_ with _Weasley_?"

Yusuke patted Hiei's back, seemingly ignorant of his horrified tone, 'Aww, don' worry, Hiei! I hear Weas-rey's mum's a pretty damn good cook, so we should be fine!'

The demon turned and gave the other a death look.

'_ANYWAY_,' The group turned attentions back to Koenma, 'We needed to know why the guy'd pulled his request, so we checked in on him with our cameras, _and_, it turns out the _fabulous_ three you've been having trouble with,' Koenma's voice leaked sarcasm all over the screen of the communicator, 'being that they're practically members themselves, has blabbed to the organization that they're pretty sure there's something not right with you. So now the entire conspiracy, including a variety of teachers and guard aurors at Hogwarts, think you're either a bunch of malicious teenage spies for Voldemort-sama,' Yusuke snorted, 'or that you're a bunch of _kamikaze_ that're trying to kill Harry Potter so that Japan can swoop in while England is being hampered by Voldemort and take over the country!'

A pause.

'Wait, can we be ninjas? Instead of _kamikaze_, ya' know? 'Coz, if we _really_ wanted to kill Potter, it wouldn't be a death sentence, 'coz we'd be able to get away, _right_?'

Koenma looked to be exploding.

'I CALL YOU UP TO TELL YOU THERE'S A CONSPIRACY ABOUT READY TO _CRUCIFY_ YOU, THAT YOU REALLY NEED TO STEP UP YOUR MORTALITY BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO BE THROWING YOURSELVES INTO THE LION'S DEN, AND YOU ASK IF YOU CAN BE A _NINJA_?'

'Pretty much, yeah,' Yusuke shrugged, 'I think after Sensui and Yomi and all that jazz, nothing really bothers me anymore.'

Botan and Koenma gave him Looks; Kurama rolled his eyes. Hiei snorted, and said, 'Ninjas are ridiculous; just look at that buffoon, Jin, and that cross-dresser, Gama. You would get more out of being a _kamikaze_.'

_Pft_._ You're all utterly absurd; anyone willing to throw away their life for _Koenma_ needs to have his brain checked. I can't _believe_ Hiei didn't say thieving_.

'Nuh-_uh_! And besides, Jin is _so_ cool!'

'Feh – are you _kidding_ me?'

'Children! Pay attention! I haven't even gotten to the point!'

'What is it, Koenma-sama?' Kurama pinched Yusuke's arm, and he "oww!"ed loudly before stifling his row with Hiei.

'Well, the thing is, Weasley obvious didn't think at the time you were _that_ big of a threat. Then he found out you were. So with a little more spying with our cameras, we found out that, to protect Potter, they're planning on sending him to the organization's safe house for Christmas. His other friend, Granger, will go home to her parents (since she usually goes with Potter to the Weasley's house); and Weasley's kid, since they don't want to be _obvious_, or rude, will just come home with two of you.'

'T-_two_ of us, Sir?'

'Don't worry, Botan – you'll probably be one of those who are assigned to Weasley's. After all, we need to persuade them that you four are perfectly normal.

'However, we _still_ need someone to watch Potter! Which is distressing, because _I_ don't know how we can make a good impression on the Weasleys, _and_ keep him safe with just you four…'

'Whatever do you mean, Koenma-sama?'

'Well, Botan would be a good person to show off to the Weasleys, because she's _always_ proper, but then so would Kurama; which leaves Hiei and Yusuke to stalking Potter, and _I_ don't think—,'

'Dammit! You're really pissin' me _off_ with that! You can't keep sayin' _we're_ the _only_ problem with this—,'

'Actually, as compared to Botan and I's records, you _are_.'

'Says _Youko Kurama_—,'

'That was another life; in _this_ one (and in all instances because _I _wished it), I have only been convicted of a felony _twice_.'

'Yeah, Kurama, _convicted_.'

'Don't complement me, Yusuke, it does little to better your point.'

'Hel-_LO-OOO_!' Yusuke stopped sticking his tongue out at the frowning Kurama long enough to glance down at Koenma. 'Can we _end this_ already? I don't have the time so that _you four_ can waste arguing in front of me! We _have_ to figure out who's going to go where!'

'Hey, infant,' Koenma glared over to Hiei, 'I can handle watching Potter on my own. After all, I tracked down the Fox when he was pretending to be a human. You know I'm able,' Then he rolled his eyes, 'And I'll "_behave_" – I won't pillage an unholy amount of goods or kill a load of humans, whatever. You'll know if I do, anyway.'

'Hiei! Where'd all your morals come from?'

'I don't give a damn what you say about food, Detective, I am _not_ staying with Weasley. Especially his sister,' He frowned.

'But I thought she liked you now? Coz of the broomstick you and Kurama "bought" her?'

'That's a large part of it.'

'Oh. Yeah. Sorry, forgot. You're saving yourself for Mukuro.'

'Koenma-san, I think it's best you take the offer.'

'_What_?' Hiei and Yusuke continued their conversation behind Kurama and Botan's backs.

'And why is _that_?' The god hmphed.

Yusuke smirked, 'Everyone _knows_, Hiei, you don't have to pretend anymore!'

'Because it's probably the best offer you'll get. Botan and I can make a good impression, and Yusuke _does_ have his charms, though he may be unorthodox. Hiei's really the only one who would have trouble being accepted.'

'_Enlighten me_, Detective – pretend about _what_?'

'Well…I suppose it makes _sense_…"

'About your relationship – I mean, come _on_, even a _blind guy _couldn see that, since you're constantly do her evil bidding without complain—,'

He broke off; the truck of a tree twenty feet away snapped, and with a lot of cracking and thunder, fell in on itself. Botan and Kurama turned around to observe the sudden disappearances of the other two. Kurama rolled his eyes again, and Botan blinked, both of them turning back to the tree while Koenma exclaimed loudly, 'What in the world was _that_?'

After a moment, Yusuke sat up from the debris with a slightly manic expression on his face, what with it being both a contortion of pain and a wicked smirk. Then Hiei dropped down from the branches of another tree, his katana gripped in his bandaged hands, and they started into a fight, quickly diverging themselves into the forest.

_What a pity; that boy has yet to learn_._ Yusuke doesn't usually take it that far if Hiei doesn't react_.

'Good bye, Koenma-sama. Hiei looks rather bloodthirsty right now, and I should probably supervise them, lest I be forced to explain tomorrow about a lack of appendages…'

And Kurama flitted off into the wood, as well.

'Erm, K-Koenma-sama…?'

'Humph! The _nerve_—!'

'At least it wasn't in your office this time, sir…'

He sighed. 'I suppose you're right. It seems like they've been unusually hyper-active, lately, though… What _was_ that? Four scrapes in the last ten minutes?'

'Well, sir, it _is_ nearing the winter solstice…they ought to be a little livelier than usual.'

'Oh. Of course, then. Well, goodnight.'

'Goodnight, Koenma-sama.'

It was just when the compact's light quit, and all she could see was a gentle snow filtering through the gap Hiei had made in the tree branches with his Yusuke-ram, that Botan realized her mistake.

'H-hello?'

The snow danced down to collect invisibly in the long blades of grass.

She switched to English for a moment, "_Hello_?"

A twig, or a bush limb creaked and snapped, and Botan whipped around with a high-pitch shriek.

**

* * *

****Footnotes:**

**NONE!  
****WHOO!  
****This actually might be a plus; I won't have to search through this five-zillion-times every pop to find some-frickin'-thing to elaborate on.  
****Anyway. We'll continue on to ****NOTES:**

**Which happen to be rather long, so I'm kind of glad I don't have any Footnotes . . .  
****Mind, most of you don't need to read this, simply because you didn't, erm, ask questions. I feel like a Nazi when I say that, but whatever the matter, it's true. This is mainly for one who, god/Alah/Flying Spaghetti Monster/etc. bless, had a very lot of questions. Not saying that only they can read this; any of you're welcome to, but it's kind of "wall-of-text"-esq., so I just wanted to state that, to the 60-some of you that read this and to the 30-some of you that sift through the Footnotes, chances are, most of these aren't your****questions.  
****Sorry! I feel like a Nazi when I say that, too . . .  
****And to the one who asked the questions; happy reading. I tried to make it small for ya', Dearie.  
**Anyway. De-bolded for easy reading. I'll separate this so you can pick it apart easier.  
**1.** The mispronunciations of names and such you see in the text were never intended for humor, but for realistic purposes. I live currently on the Northwest Coast, and thus receive many Asian peoples, and I have friends, who, upon first coming to the states, took nearly a half-year to say "Lanely" without accent. And (though I'm sure they don't say each other's names enough for it to be quite obvious) every chance I get, I'm slowly bettering their articulation. By Easter (in the story) they should be saying everything relatively correctly (if how I'm typing it works out like I've planned).  
Also, I can't find explanation for the "teme" stuff, or any of the general over-pronunciation done by the British; it's just the way I say them when I try an Asian accent. Ironically, I'm from the semi-South (I've since moved to the NWC), and though _I_ feel I have no abnormal accent, I suppose it might be why they might sound a little far-fetched to some . . .  
**2. a.** I agree, the Kurama-multiple-personalities thing is OOC. But it's mostly for comic relief; in actuality, I haven't watched the dubbed YYH version for quite the while (or at very least, the parts where it mentions Kurama's old life in conjunction with the new), so while I appreciate you lot giving me a free-card for that, it's not the way I've interpreted it; rather, it's the wet portion of my sense of humor.  
**b. **And Kurama _has_ been careless – with Hermione and such, but that was because he first assumed they wouldn't get looked at too closely, being with a bunch of kids. Around teachers, I've tried to make him better, but with the kids he's been slack. (And then of course, he didn't assume he'd run into a Hermione in the first place.) Now he's backpedaling. I agree, canon-wise, he shouldn't _have_ to backpedal at all, but how it's set up in here, Shuichi has never technically done this before - only in Youko Kurama's memories. He's yet to be a long-term spy-thing in _his_ life.  
And everyone knows Youko is an asshole; he doesn't care whether they do the job right or not, so he couldn't care to correct Shuichi, who doesn't, in turn, reference Youko's memories, considering he'd have access to them.  
Call that rationalizing if you will, but I'm having a hard enough time doing the above _and_ keeping the trio from completely busting them out as it is.  
Then, with Diagon Alley, he had to have, and did, know of Koenma's cameras, but he didn't care. Because: firstly, we know Kurama never loved his mother until he was eight or ten, so with the OOC I've set up, he was probably closer to Youko; he probably picked up some of his characteristics, like his greed (only later did Shuichi turn sweeter for his mother, and did he and Youko start to argue). So Kurama doesn't like to spend money on someone he does not love, i.e. his mother and himself. That's part of the incentive of the D.A. ransacking; he doesn't want to pay for Ginny's broom, but he has to keep everyone on good terms with everyone else, to get on their good side.  
Then, Youko wanted to make a scene, because it was more entertaining and, as he explained, less conspicuous as far as the Ministry was concerned. Kurama didn't believe Koenma would act so venomously towards them when it didn't concern him directly.  
**3. **Which brings us to Koenma – who, honestly, I've never placed much intelligence with. His father, yes, but Koenma I always pictured was kinda' daft and immature, even if he is hundreds of years old. I can't really recall a moment when he's been perfectly serious (or at the very least not nervous), even when his employees have been professional; but again, I haven't watched YYH in a while, so correct me if I'm wrong.  
For Koenma's Howler – I've been over to my friend Kevin's house, and he is part Japanese. There have been instances when he and his mother have fought, and my experience from that is, a when native-born Japanese person is very angry and yelling very loudly, they tend to talk very, very fastly. That's how I came up with the assumption that a name in the middle of a rant would be lost on English ears, especially since Koenma only said "Potter," not "Harry Potter." But maybe I'm wrong, hon; Kevin's mom didn't mention Harry Potter, after all, so I don't know for sure.  
**4. **And, in response to the fact that Yusuke and Keiko are married at sixteen; in Kansas, if one is at least 15 years old (I think they've changed it to 16 since, but it was 15 in the time place both Harry Potter and YYH take place), one may be married with parental consent. I have no idea how they do it in Japan, or Britain for that matter, but I'll assume they have something similar set up. This is the explanation planned when or if I have Hermione converge upon them.  
**5.** Now, the "Botan Reikai" . . . Hermione has only heard, in terms of words from the book, "Ningenkai"; Harry knows "Makai." When Botan pronounces "Reikai," it's the first time any of them have they've heard it. Admittedly, Hermione _could_ look this up and compare spellings (being that Japanese is, thankfully, not half as evil in that regard as English), _if_ she had the book. It's disappointing I didn't put this in the footnotes before, but . . . thank you, Deary, for getting it for me.  
Anyway.  
Believe it or not, that's all. I'll try t' work on everything a bit more (you're all wonders for writing so much to me, ya' know.)  
And don't tell me I'm _that_ obvious with the HP-meets-demons-thing – or is it just expected? Oh well, yes, I'm doing that, and I believe how I'm planning it is relatively original . . . It's canon, at least.  
Finally, umm . . . well, frankly, I don't use FanFic all that often. What's a beta?

**(I have **_**84**_** reviews. :D)**


	9. And Then There Was Snow

**Key:  
**"**Talking – English in an English setting / Japanese in a Japanese setting; Japanese heard by a person who speaks only English and visa-versa."  
**'**Talking – Any other language than the "text in the quotation marks."'  
**'_**Telekinesis'  
**__**Thinking / Conscience**_

'**Kay – so now that I know what a beta is, how might one acquire such an editor? 'Coz I'm the only one of my friends who reads YuYu Hakusho, let alone Harry Potter. **

**Ooo, damn it. Thank you, Taka, you reminded me I still have to write that scene.**** Shoulda' done it in the seventh chapter, though – frickin' plot holes. ****Jeez. Oh well, I try, and I guess that's what counts . . . A****t least I can change my reason for Hagrid's appearance. 'Twas verging on terrible beforehand. **

**And I really love 'Boy Meets World.' It's one of my favorites.  
****(On that note, I'm sorry this is so long, after I guess I've decided to make these shorter. I **_**think**_** it goes pretty fast – and you wouldn't've wanted me to cut it shorter, besides.)**

**Rated T for Teen**

**

* * *

****Crack-Chapter: _And Then There Was Snow_**

**Chpt. 9**

The new girl, Botan, was different than the other foreigners in that she was more accepted; probably because she wasn't loud, or utterly strange, and not too obnoxious; she was friendly (though verging on frightening), and she had seemingly befriended Lavender and Parvati, which automatically gained her points with a lot of the younger Gryffindor girls.

Most of all, she had spent virtually none of the short amount of time she'd been there with the Slytherins, which, coupled with her affable presence, automatically appeased most of the school.

(Except, of course, the Slytherins, who immediately began to treat her as Minamino; but that was obvious.)

The day was Sunday, at breakfast; two days after Botan's arrival.

She was seated with Lavender and Pavarti, and the farthest away from Hiei, Yusuke, and Minamino that one could manage and still allow for Lavender to psychologically drape herself all over Minamino. It had seemed she'd been avoiding the boys Saturday, and that morning, sticking to her new acquaintances. The three (well, Kurama and Yusuke) kept attempting to speak to her, but she would always seem to manage to throw them off.

Quite unlike his normally cheerful self, Yusuke was sulking into his hash browns, picking through them with his fork while Minamino entertained Lavender with conversation, and Hiei made mince-meat of his bacon.

Harry, himself, was seated to the right of the new girl with Ron on his other side. Hermione was somewhere seeking out McGonagall, making sure she'd studied what would be on the pre-Christmas-break exams that would take place the next day.

Finally, half-way through his sausage, he found a moment to pull Botan out of a conversation with Pavarti and was able to ask, "So, erm, why aren't you sitting with the others from your old school? I mean, they're your friends, right?"

Botan's face fell a little, and then she was pouting with her arms crossed.

"They played a joke on me on Friday night, and it was very rude, and I am not speaking to them!"

"It wasn't a joke, and it wasn't our fault!" Yusuke said abruptly, leaning over the table to speak to her, "It was deer – a, erm, a painting of a deer! The thing stepped on a twig, and you flipped out!"

"I was only scared because," she replied, turning purposefully away from him, "you three left me alone in the dark because you and Hiei-kun got into a fight, and then Minamino-san had to get involved, and then I was all alone on one of those terrible staircases—,"

"I give up!" Yusuke spat, and threw himself back onto the bench with a scowl.

"Botan-san, please – you shouldn't be angry. Hiei-san was the first to come as soon as we heard you scream—,"

"No, I wasn't," And suddenly, Minamino was holding his shoulder with a pained expression on his face. He gave Hiei a Look, who raised his fist threateningly, but then Lavender was crooning if he was hurt or not; thus ending the spat.

Harry probed Botan further as the exchange ended, "What happened the other night…?"

"Well, those three were showing me around before bed, and then Hiei-kun and Yusuke got into a fight about Hiei-kun's employer—,"

"That sounds really wrong when you say it like – ow, damn it, Hiei—!"

Hiei has a job?

"—and so they both went off somewhere I couldn't see, because the torch-light was really low. But then Minamino-san had to leave, too, to make sure they didn't break anything, so I was all alone. Then the staircase I was on started to move, and then I heard something behind me, and it was frightening because I didn't know what it was and I couldn't see anything…"

Harry and Ron shared a glance.

"Then she screamed her bloody head off, and when we got there, we had to go look around for, like, ten-frickin'-minutes, because she thought it was a demon or somethin' that was gonna' eat her, (and c'mon, like one even could with us around!) and we ended up finding out it was a deer. A painting of a deer."

"Oh, just be quiet, it was scary!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Yusuke began to sulk once more. He only stared out the window for a half-second before his face lit up, and he nudged Minamino. "Hey, it snowed last night!"

Minamino turned to him, frowning, saying, "Please, Yusuke, I'm talking…"

"Yeah, but, it snowed last night."

"Wonderful. I thought you'd already picked up on that."

"Yeah, but I just noticed! I mean, noticed-noticed!"

Kurama rolled his eyes, "It is December, after all. What would you expect?"

"Well, yeah, I guess you're right, but it usually only snows a little each year where we are; and there's like, a foot out there!"

"We sometimes get heavier snow fall than normal. It's not as if you've never seen this much at one time before."

"Yeah, but, there's a whole foot of fresh snow—,"

Minamino sighed, "There's no telling you, is there?"

"My point is, we should have a—,"

"No-way-in-hell."

"Pleeease, Hiei! We could get somma' the other guys, too—,"

"I hate snowball fights."

"I concur with Hiei – the last one we had was an utter fiasco…" And then he patted his hair thoughtfully.

"Aww, c'mon, Kurama! That was an accident!"

"If we have any more 'accidents,' my hair will be depleted to—,"

"A normal length? Oh, jeez, Kurama, not like mine, will it? What would you do?"

Minamino frowned. Ron, and Seamus and Dean, down the table, sniggered; Harry was unable to keep from snorting into his pumpkin juice. Lavender glared at them all.

"Besides, Hiei's got his katana taken away, so—,"

"—So when you hit someone with a rei-filled snowball again, I'll be getting tree limbs 'accidentally' launched at my head, instead?"

"Well, technically, they'll be launched at my head – just, I'll happen to duck like last time, and you won't, and—,"

"Must I remind you it took approximately three months for me to grow it back naturally?"

"It's already pretty short, thanks to Hiei! A few more inches wouldn't kill you!"

"Try me."

"Well, it's not that big of an issue, is it?"

This stopped the two foreigners, and they looked over at Harry, who wasn't quite sure what had provoked him into speech. Yusuke replied, "Aww, thanks, Hayry, but… Wait, you wanna' have a snowball fight with us?" Suddenly, he was beaming.

"Er—,"

"Don't drag Potter-san into this as well, Yusuke."

"But he doesn't have as much hair as you, Kurama, why should he mind?"

Minamino smiled apologetically at Harry, and then started talking to Yusuke in Japanese.

Ron, simultaneously, had a realization come over his face; he turned to Dean, on his left, and started whispering. Dean grinned suddenly, and nodded. Ron smirked at Harry before he leaned over the table and said to Yusuke, "Oi, I will! It's Saturday, after all. Me'n Dean'n Harry will, too, right?"

"Right," Dean answered immediately, grinning. Minamino's eyes narrowed as Seamus glanced between Dean and Ron like they were crazy.

"Er, sure," Harry said, raising his eyebrows at Ron questioningly. He shook his head slightly as Seamus turned the look at Harry, who shrugged.

"Awesome!" Yusuke suddenly sprung off the bench and started jumping on the balls of his feet, back and forth, "You have to, now, Hiei! 'Rama!"

Minamino flinched at the nick-name, but Hiei looked thoughtful for a moment. He stared at the three boys and said, almost imploringly, "Why not?"

"Well if you lot'er goin', then aye might as well, too," Seamus stood up with a huff.

"O-oi, are you doing teams?" Collin Creevy got up two seats down and beamed between Harry and Yusuke in a nervous-excited way. "If you are, I'll play!"

"YEAH! You can be on my team!" And Yusuke high-fived the semi-shocked boy.

Hiei's eyes wavered as he stared at Collin, and something about the way he looked at the boy seemed predatory to Harry. As he watched, Hiei smirked.

"Oh dear," Harry's eyes flickered over to Minamino, who was also observing Hiei. He sighed, "I'll be playing, as well, then…"

"Botan-chan, Pavarti!" Lavender turned to the girls (Pavarti rolled her eyes), "You want to come and watch with me?"

"But it's cold outside, Lav'…"

"Pleeeaase…"

"I-I'll go, you guys…" To Harry's amazement, Neville stood up, whereas he usually tried to make scarce around the foreigners. "I, I need the exercise," He said hurriedly to the general table, but Yusuke grinned at him all the same.

"Oh fine, then!" And Pavarti turned with a huff away from Lavender, who in turn hugged her with a giggle.

"I'll do it," said a fly-away voice behind Ron. He jumped and spun around; and Luna Lovegood had somehow managed behind him without being sensed. "You need someone to even the teams, after all. I'd be happy to oblige."

Yusuke high-fived Luna, too. Minamino sighed again.

**lll**

Ron and Yusuke ended up being the team captains, and their teammates as follows: Dean, Seamus, Neville, and Harry to Ron, and Minamino, Hiei, Luna, and Collin (as promised) to Yusuke.

However, upon deciding, all four foreigners (as of course, Botan and Pavarti had been persuaded outside by Lavender) had bluntly agreed that the sides were uneven, and insisted upon switching out members. So, Ron offered to switch Neville for Luna (being that she was the only girl, and, decidedly, frailest); but Yusuke had given Ron a strange look and said, "Are you even trying to win?" which of course caused confusion.

To which the boy further explained, "All three of us on one team wouldn't be fun at all; we'd whip your butts!"

After a fair bit of backpedaling and rationalizing, Minamino and Luna, and even Yusuke, convinced Seamus, Dean, and Ron that they were not angry with Yusuke, and that he hadn't meant it. To which said boy further elaborated, "Well, we're used to gettin' the shit beat out of us, and beatin' the shit out of each other (you guys remember that one time we sparred, right?), and it'd just be more even if we had at least one of us on each team, since you lot aren't really all that used to it like us… It' just the way it goes."

"I need to be on Hiei's team," Kurama had said then.

"Why?"

"'Coz he needs to make sure he doesn't kill one of you," Yusuke answered for him to Seamus, shrugging, "That's just the way it goes, too," Hiei'd glared at Yusuke. "So, we gonna' switch out Hiei and 'Rama for two of yours, then—?"

"I don't want to be on their team."

Minamino seemed to have neglected, at that moment, to chide him as he usually did.

"What? But—,"

"You, switch, Detective, if you want to even it up."

Yusuke frowned, "Oh, fine. Alright, Ron, who d'you want t' trade for me'n Creevy?"

"Me?"

"Well, yeah, I said you could play on my team, after all. I mean, it's fine if you don't want to, but I am the strongest," And he smirked at Hiei and Minamino.

Collin, flattered enough to be wanted, smiled widely; "Of course!"

"I'll acknowledge your slight superiority, Detective, but only so long as you keep it to yourself. Don't give me incentive to kill you while you sleep."

…But eventually, the teams stood as Seamus, Dean, Ron, Yusuke, and Collin, verses Minamino, Hiei, Neville, Luna, and Harry, as Neville and Harry turned out to be the only ones willing to switch sides (Harry was beginning to understand why Ron and Dean had been so eager to play against the foreigners, specifically Minamino. If he, himself, hadn't been so undecided on the matter of the boy's sincerity, he probably would have joined the evil turn Ginny's fan club was taking.)

The rules were that each team would have ten minutes (timed by Luna) to make a snow-fort, without magic, as protection; after which, further construction of such would be prohibited. Then another five minutes (again by Luna) would be solely devoted to making ammunition, and all other snowballs in the course of the game would have to be made post-war. Teams could venture no farther than the wall of their snow fort, and the team who surrendered first would win; though by technicality, they wouldn't ever finish their game.

So after the construction of these rules, and of the ten-minute snow "forts" phase, and of the five minute snowball-gathering period, war broke out across the Hogwarts grounds; much to the entertainment of those in the castle, standing at the windows and doors, and to the three girls shivering under a tree a ways off from the battle ground.

**lll**

Hagrid chuckled as he pulled his curtain back over the window, after glancing out at the snowball fight taking place in view of his cottage. He returned to tending his fire where a rabbit stew was bubbling. He stirred the broth a few times, so the meat wouldn't burn (Fang whined on the carpet, his nose sniffing the renewed smell noisily), and then Hagrid walked over to his only cabinet.

The house he lived in wasn't very big (at least for a half-giant, and his half-giant-sized things), and so he didn't keep all the furniture that others might, unless it was absolutely necessary; but he didn't suffer for it. He and Fang were really the only two in the house he normally fed, and so his cabinet didn't hold much flatware, simply because of a deficiency in purpose. With the extra space he kept papers and things, stuff that he would have normally kept in a desk.

So with some shuffling, he pulled out the mysterious piece of paper he'd found in his garden, where he'd kept the hippogriffs before they'd all fled into the forest.

He'd eventually figured out it was the scrap Yusuke Urameshi had been after the morning he'd been attacked by Buckbeak (and wherever he was, may he be well). He knew this, because for one, it was muddy and trampled (and torn into several pieces at one point, but a simple spell had fixed that); and secondly, it appeared to be written entirely in Japanese. Hagrid had meant to hand it back to him, just in case it had been important (the letter set-up had seemed rather fancy, anyway), but it kept slipping his mind. He didn't see Yusuke often, after all, since the boy didn't have his classes, and Hagrid wasn't exactly on the best terms with the foreigners. That Hiei boy didn't seem to like him at all.

But being that they were in the vicinity of his home, and he hadn't stopped in to talk to Harry or Ron lately, Hagrid might as well deliver it now.

So he put the paper on his table, and began dressing himself up for dealing with the foot of snow outside.

About then there was a loud whiney outside. The kids on the grounds screamed, yelled to each other, and then it was quiet. Hagrid paused for a moment, and frowned, and hurried the process of putting on his clothes. Right as he was ready to leave, he checked the stew and, since it was ready, he took it off the fire to cool.

The next bout of neighing he heard was much more distressing.

Hagrid hurried to the window, glanced behind the curtains, then returned, shocked, for his crossbow before he flung himself out the door.

**lll**

Botan was a grim reaper; was death, in essence, even if she didn't possess the certain mannerisms that humans liked to associate her with.

So when three thestrals suddenly burst out of the top of the forest a ways away, flapping frantically as if they had taken off in a rush, she was the only one who appeared to notice them. The other boys should have, too; but being that Yusuke was determined to hit every inch of Kurama and Hiei that he could, Hiei was proceeding to slowly and maliciously kill Collin Creevy with snow, and Kurama, fueled on raw, scarcely concealed irritation, was hell-bent on knocking Ron and Dean flat on their butts like he'd done to Seamus (because the boy had illegally magicked a snowball to fly down his shirt), they were all rather preoccupied.

The two girls she stood with, having never seen death and also otherwise engaged, did not notice Botan's diffusion from the conversation as she pondered the sudden flight, and why the air unexpectedly did not feel quite right.

Then the demonic auras popped into her sensing range, and she gasped.

"What's wrong, Botan-san?" Pavarti looked over at the 'battle,' "Oh, Yusuke just hit Hiei, didn't he? I'm sure he'll be all right, if he's strong enough to knock Creevy over like that…"

"That's not… I have to get the boys, stay right here!"

"What—?"

"Stay!" And Botan pulled free of Lavender's hand and sprinted towards the snow forts.

'You guys!' Not even Kurama glanced up at her; she tried again, 'You gu-uys! Listen to me!'

Kurama and Hiei, the closest snow fort to her, glanced at her, 'Yes, Botan? Are you speaking to—,' Kurama dodged suddenly, and a snowball threaded with Yusuke's aura whizzed past his chest to slam into the ground behind him, '—us again?'

'Oh be quiet! This is much more important than tha—,' A snowball smacked into her head, 'Ou-uch!'

She whipped around and glared at the grinning Yusuke twenty-five meters away. She really would've flipped him off if he'd put his aura in that one, friendly countenance or not. Why did he have to throw so hard?

'Are you alright, Botan-san?' Luna asked in her high-pitch monotone, forming a snowball around a clump of dead grass she'd found a foot beneath the snow.

'Hmph! Why yes I am, Luna-chan, thank you for asking,' And Botan punctuated this by giving Kurama and Hiei Looks.

Hiei rolled his eyes and motioned for Luna's finished snowball; he launched it over at Yusuke, and five meters from its target, it exploded into flames before continuing with its decent. After receiving a complement from Kurama for his chaos, he turned to Botan and growled, 'Just get on with—,'

Their heads snapped around to the tree line, and Botan knew they were listening to the passage she'd detected, even if she couldn't hear it.

'Shit.'

'Pardon, Hiei-san?'

But a line of demons didn't, thankfully, come charging out of the forest (yet); several frog-like monkeys with red foreheads ran screeching from the trees, making Lavender and Pavarti squeal and scramble away, as the group charged straight for their tree and clambered up it. Not long behind them, a long-legged, white horse charged out, tossing its head furiously and making the long, silver horn protruding from its forehead glimmer, even in the half-sunlight.

"Is that a unicorn…?"

"Yeah," Harry answered Botan, standing up in a shocked way. The snowball he had been making dropped from his hand, accidentally landing in the dazed Neville's lap.

Hiei snorted, "Ugly."

Harry and Neville stared at him blankly

The unicorn, having entered a clearing, stopped abruptly and trotted angrily in a circle, gathering its situation. Understanding there was a very large rock in its way, it looked back to the forest; but with just one peek the creature decided against returning, and flipped around to bolt towards the castle.

**lll**

The continued progress of the unicorn stopped Harry and Neville from staring at Hiei, and they turned back to the magnificent animal. Harry snapped out of his daze long enough to wonder what he should do, being that he and his team were the first thing between said unicorn and whatever safe haven there might be beyond the Forbidden Forest.

And the unicorn didn't look like it wanted to be stopping sometime soon.

A moment after, he felt a hand on the back of his robes, pulling him behind a morose Minamino, and Hiei, who always looked rather dark, anyway. Simultaneously, the boy's other hand had reached down and yanked Neville up by the collar, to push him back as well. Luna quietly got up and behind them herself, without question.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Neville stammered, rubbing his neck as he stared, confused, between the two of them.

"They won't get past us, to be sure, Nayvul-san, but you, Lovegood-chan, and Potter-san need to be leaving now," He began to untie the clasps of the heavy winter robes he wore; Hiei simply pulled his one cloak off his head and tossed it in a heap to the ground. "Go get Pateerl-san and Brown-chan with Botan-san, and make everyone at the doors go in. One of you should also alert Headmaster – tell him we have it under control, but—,"

"Have what under control? It's just a unicorn, right?" Harry asked, giving him a strange look. His hand slipped inside his cloak pocket and he grasped his wand handle tightly.

Minamino smiled politely at Harry, "Go with Weasry-san," And he turned back to the unicorn quickly covering the space between them, and began to mutter to Hiei in Japanese.

Indeed, Ron was jogging towards him, apparently disbanded by Yusuke, who was also coming over, though towards his two friends. Seamus, Dean, and Collin were walking back up to the castle, glancing back at the unicorn while Collin also bounced up-and-down with curiosity. They didn't appear to think something significant was about to happen, either. Then Pavarti and Lavender joined them from by the tree infested with clabberts, and Luna was tugging on the sleeves of his robes.

Ron had just reached him, saying, "Sorry for hittin' you that one time, mate – but don' you think we oughtta' move—?" when the unicorn reared up on its hind legs so suddenly it fell over on its back, screaming out deafeningly and raking the snow with its horn. Lavender and Pavarti shrieked loudly, and Botan jumped at the sound (Luna, in comparison, blinked); and then Seamus, Dean, and Collin were running towards them, yelling, "What the bloody 'ell it'd do that for?"

Yusuke, arriving with his friends, yelled back, "Go up to the castle, already! I told you, it's gonna' be fine!" But they disregarded him.

The clabberts in the tree also responded, practically falling out of the branches so that they could sprint from where Harry and company was, to another tree on the grounds farther away. The unicorn scrambled to get up, and then galloped back towards the forest before it began turning circles again, prancing nervously towards the trees and then away from them, its rolling eyes always coming back to where the foreigners were standing. The other three arrived, panting, and Collin began asking, hurriedly, what was going on (no one replied).

"C'mon, horse," Yusuke muttered, tapping his foot, "Go sideways, go sideways; that's the only way you're gonna' make it…"

"It's going to charge again," Something about Hiei seemed to change that made the unicorn start and scream again.

"No, if you force it too much it'll go back to the—," And the creature turned and began to gallop away, back towards the forest.

Yusuke swore in Japanese, and then the air around them seemed to shift. He was suddenly speaking very rapidly, again in Japanese. Hiei nodded, and so did Minamino, and then Yusuke also shed his winter robes, down to his school uniform slacks and sweater like the other two, before he and Hiei started jogging off after the unicorn. Minamino calmly bent down and salvaged some dead grass from the patch of which Luna had been making Hiei snowball-bombs. He turned back to the group, and as Harry watched, they once again turned green and stiff in the boy's hands before elongating and widening into sharp, green blades.

"Being that I no longer have possession over any of my seeds, let alone my rose, until June, I have been condemned to watch you. However, I do not want to watch you, because at this moment—," and, to everyone's universal surprise, and several gasps, forty or fifty creatures like the "winged trolls" of the quidditch stadium burst free of the tree line, causing the unicorn to upstart again; it was promptly apprehended by several "trolls," one of which paused to rip something from it's stomach. In any case, it did not stand up again. "—you have all become liabilities. Therefore, I will instead herd you towards the castle doors—," Then the two foreigners met the group, Yusuke with another "spirit gun" blast, and Hiei with forks and tongues of flame clutching his hands, "—and if you will not disobey me," Minamino frowned, "For while we are not in any danger with such numbers as these, I'm afraid that with all of you to – oh—," And he glanced to the side, narrowing his eyes crossly.

Hagrid, his hut closer to the forest than the castle, had charged out of his house and was shooting demons with his crossbow. It didn't appear to be working too well, however, as he had fired three arrows into one demon alone, two through the stomach and one in the shoulder, and it was still coming at him, in addition to four others.

"Stay here," And Harry suddenly found himself scrambling to hold four of the six "blades of grass" that had been forced into his hands while Minamino sprinted off towards Hagrid with an uncanny speed. Unfortunately, three of the blades cut into his hands and arms, so he ended up dropping them all, where they made deep impressions in the snow.

"Wh-what do we do now?" Lavender asked after a moment, "They're getting closer…" And she shakily pointed a finger at the demons that had bypassed Yusuke and Hiei – who, despite their slip-up, were still fighting viciously. Harry understood the need for someone to stay behind, then, because there was no way that two or three could hold off two scores of demons, especially when those few were just humans (though the foreigners seemed to be holding their own fine). There had to've been one to catch the excess, and that person was currently making sure Hagrid didn't die – though he could apprehend them if he had time to get his great hands around their thick, multi-colored necks.

"It's simple, really," Luna answered immediately, kneeling down to where Harry had dropped the swords, "We fight back," And she picked one of them up dreamily, turning it over in her hands.

Harry blinked down at the girl, then up at the demons rapidly coming closer. They appeared to be laughing and grinning maniacally – and half-clothed to boot.

"Luna's right, you guys, c'mon!"

"Ugh! I can't believe Kurama left us here!" Botan sniffed, and then held out her hand in an open space, "Now I'll have to…" Something flickered in the air, and swirled; and then she was holding what looked like a boat oar. "Come, now; Patil-san, Brown-san. No offense, but I want to get you two to safety first – and you, too, Lovegood-san! Up, up! I don't care if you want to fight, you're much too small, dear!" And she lifted herself up onto the oar side-saddle, and hung there expectantly.

"Where're you going?" Seamus asked.

Botan answered, "Oh, just on top of the castle, don't worry – now, on—,"

Harry stared at Luna strangely at her next words, "You can take Collin first, Botan-san, he's younger than me, and doesn't know as much magic," She stood up, holding one of the swords in one hand and her wand in the other. The rest of them compulsively did the same, Harry and Dean bending down to grab a sword as well.

"Really? I didn't know that—,"

"Wait, Botan-san, she's lying—,"

"Nope! I won't have it!" And Botan hauled him up next to her roughly, probably because he looked and acted so much younger than Luna, though they were the same age; and so her fib must have seemed more believable. Just as Collin righted himself so he was sitting on the oar like one might normally mount a horse, like Pavarti and Lavender had done, Botan pulled the oar upwards and they were spiraling up vertically into the air, in a manner that twisted Harry's stomach – to fast for one of them to correct Luna's lie, had they cared to. "I'll be baaack—," Was all Harry caught of what Botan said before the wind took her words and ripped them away.

"Stupefy!" And Seamus hit the first demon to come within three meters right in the chest. It roused another chorus of the spell from the others, who, between the five of them, hit the other closest demons. All four of the creatures stopped in their tracks, two of which fell over, before they shook off the curse or sprang back up, laughing, and charged again.

"It didn't work?" Ron yelled, shocked, taking a few steps back. Harry was stunned for a moment as well, and felt as though his stomach had dropped out.

A moment later, a voice behind them screamed, "Confringo!" It threw a demon backward into another, exploding the shoulder it hit. The blast knocked the creature down, where it writhed, squealing, on the ground, the rest of its arm strew along before it.

"Diffindo—!

"I just read up on it, you can't use mind-spells on demons, they have different psyches – you have to use ones that affect the body—,"

"Confringo! Confringo—!"

"Duro—!"

And Hermione, Ginny, and three aurors paid to guard the school barreled past them, shouting more spells, felling more demons the closer in proximity they came. Ron, Dean, and Seamus quickly picked up the spells, the first exploding where it hit, like Hermione's spell, the second slicing them clean apart from the point of impact, and the last causing the skin of the demons (and possibly everything below that flesh) to rapidly turn to stone.

Harry got an idea, then, (suddenly connecting the words "demon" and "dementor" in his head) and he brought back the best feelings he could muster from all his visits to the Burrow – "Expecto Patronum!"

A silver-gray mist erupted from his wand tip and hung there, and with another chant of the spell, the fog formulated itself into a stag. It turned to Harry, and he said, "Get the demons, get them!" It promptly turned and head-butted the nearest creature full in the chest.

The demon screeched and scrambled back, scrapes from the horns of the stag across its chest. It first took swipes at the creature, but its hands hit the magic and burned, enticing more screaming. It spat in Harry's direction before it tried to run, but the patronous chased it down and raked it again and again with its rack, stomping it. And, once the demon had stopped moving, it went after another.

Unfortunately, Harry had become rather transfixed with this exchange; mainly because he'd never known a patronous to gore a creature before (he figured it'd just chase the demons away).

So when another of the creatures dodged through the spell work and came at him from the side, he wasn't paying attention; and he only had time to part-way raise his wand and flinch before Minamino appeared behind the advancing demon and lobbed its head off.

He turned to his right, stabbed another in the arm before using his other blade to slash off part of its chest; freed his weapons and advanced to the front of their group, where the aurors, Hermione, and Ron were felling most that came close. Harry followed him, after telling his patronous to watch Ginny.

Between the group of them, twelve in all, the remainder of the demons were depleted in less than a minute.

Yusuke, Hiei, and Hagrid began jogging back towards the main group the time the last demon attempting to flee was finished. The English of the group were all looking rather sickly, because the dead and dieing creatures spread between them had leaked nasty-scented blood all over the snow; the corpses were already starting to turn, and the half-corpses were screaming in pain and in thick Japanese, squirming on the ground. Closer to the forest, the bodies were burning and, thanks to Hiei, were creating a horrible green-black smoke. Harry's patronous, still standing among them, was no longer needed; and its silver form fell apart and disappeared.

Minamino turned around slowly; unlike Harry, and much of the others, he wasn't gasping for breath, or making faces at the slaughter. His clothes were curiously unsoiled by blood, as were the blades in his hands, and he was wearing his frown. He dropped the grass, and they suddenly shrunk back to normal, dead brown again as they hit the snow.

Seamus breathed rather deeply, looked around at all the carnage and the spatter on his clothes, and vomited. Hermione, Harry, Dean, and one of the youngest of the aurors all proceeded in doing the same. Minamino sighed.

"That's another reason why you should have gone inside; this is rather unpleasant work, and if you're not accustomed to the gore—,"

"Kurama!"

He glanced over his shoulder before he walked up to Yusuke and Hiei. Hagrid kept walking, hurried to take inventory of injuries, but Yusuke and Hiei stopped to talk with Minamino in Japanese, before they began to walk around through the snow, calmly finishing the wounded on the ground.

"Ah, damn it! Why did yeh' hafta' come out an' fight? I was scared t' death o'er you lot – an' look at this mess! You ain't suppos'd t' see stuff like this! Yer' jus' kids!"

"Starling! Mathews! Clifton!" The three aurors turned, as did the rest of the group; but the foreigners, who continued their grave-work.

The rest of the auror force was rushing towards them with Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Rhone at their head. As they arrived, Dumbledore addressed Hagrid gravely, and then, with the rest of the aurors and professors, began to stare in disbelief at the battlefield.

Hiei finished the last demon with a sword made of blue-black fire, dispersed it, and then the foreigners also stood attention.

McGonagall was the first to find her voice; "Mr. Minamino?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

Her voice slowly gaining volume with each word, she growled, her mouth in a very thin and line-like, "Why is it we always find you three in the middle of these gruesome happenings? What so prompts you into disobeying rules set for your own safety, and the safety of your classmates, in favor of doing hero work?"

Harry recognized this speech, and was glad it was not directed at him for once.

"Well, if we told you," Yusuke piped up, scratching the back of his head, "we'd prolly hafta' kill you."

McGonagall's nostrils flared, and her eyes narrowed.

"Do you agree with Mr. Urameshi's statement, then, Mr. Minamino?"

"…I don't think you want me to answer that, Professor."

"Why not?"

Minamino hesitated for a moment, but then said, sheepishly, "Because we'd probably have to kill you…"

Professor Rhone, who'd looked shocked and disturbed from the beginning, gasped and, her knees bucking into the snow, retched.

Dumbledore sighed, bending down to pat Rhone's heaving back.

"Minerva, please take these children up to the hospital wing, and get Vivian, Mr. Mathews, Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, and Mr. Thomas something to settle their stomachs.

"Mr. Minamino, Mr. Urameshi, Mr. Jaganshi… I'm afraid you three will have to come to my office directly. I doubt you are injured, besides?"

"Feh."

"Yes, sir."

"Yeah."

"Excellent. Then we may discuss the terms of your expulsions immediately."

* * *

**Revert back to chapter six if you're confused or shocked by what Monsieur Dumbledore just said – it's right at the beginning, anyway.**

**Footnotes:**

**"'If we have any more 'accidents,' my hair will be depleted to—,'  
****'A normal length? Oh, jeez, Kurama, not like mine, will it? What would you do?'"; I honestly have no idea how Kurama always manages to keep his really long hair really long, when he spars with a couple of 'S'-class demons of his strength or better so often.  
****God, I bake cookies one day and my lovely fluff (and forehead, but that's not lovely) gets hacked by a frickin' electric beater.  
****…But I digress.**

**"…when the unicorn reared up on its hind legs so suddenly it fell over on its back, uttering a whinny that would wake the dead… 'C'mon, horse,' Yusuke muttered, tapping his foot, 'Go sideways, go sideways; that's the only way you're gonna' make it…'"; The unicorn (let alone the clabberts (which are canon)) was, obviously, running from the demons in the forest, which posed a more immediate threat than the demonic aura around the school; i.e. the demons coming out of the forest were right there, ready to rip out throats, while the castle's aura only said demons were somewhere there, not that they were right 'in-your-face, go-anywhere-near-here-and-you-will-be-eaten' there, thus the unicorn took that way rather than stayed in the forest.  
****However, being that the field was about to become a battle ground, the boys (well, Yusuke) elevated their aura, made it more clear that yes, the castle-demons were 'go-anywhere-near-here-and-you-will-be-eaten' there, in an attempt to drive the unicorn sideways, so it wouldn't die.  
****However, the unicorn (because I'm a morbid bastard, someone had to die in this), decided for some reason that, with a little help from Hiei, sideways was not good, as well as the castle, and the forest looked very nice ('S'-class demons to D-class demons – which were what they were, btw.)  
****So I've never placed much intelligence with unicorns, either – at least not much more than normal horses. Maybe a little more empathetic-sympathetic, but not all that, 'I-can-read-the-stars-and-do-quantum-theory' sorta' thing goin' on, ya' know?**

**"Collin Creevy"; is a fifth-year to Harry's sixth, who is kinda' obsessed with said Potter. When he was in first year, Collin'd run around taking pictures of him.  
****Thus, his involvement in the snowball fight. (You'll learn about Neville's later. God I love him, and Madam Rowling rocks.)**

**"Confringo, Duro, etc."; These are spells normally used on inanimate objects. I have no idea if they'd work on animate ones, but I've heard nothing against it, so…**

**NOTES: ****I don't really remember Yusuke telling Raizen that if he'd eat them, he'd bring him humans, but I _can_ see him doing that for his kin. You know, finding some really bad humans and all that jazz – sort of like that one vampy-book, with pretty Edward in it. Anyway, like that; however, I can't remember anything of the sort concerning, hence his response.  
****But the main reason Yusuke was hesitant, was because he seemed to make a big deal about killing the psychotic Doctor (one of Sensui's associates) to save a hospital full of infected humans; he did, reluctantly, end up killing him. So I figured he wouldn't _want_ to kill them, but he would if necessary.  
****For Yusuke being married to Keiko; at the end of the episode where Yusuke says goodbye to Keiko, he says to her they'll get married on his return from Makai.  
****So I guess I pretty much misinterpreted that. Ehhh.  
****I suppose I'm really just a hopelessly romantic school girl at heart.  
****And the whole italicized thing; I have never heard of that before.  
****…And I feel stupid now.  
****Ick – oh well. The only thing I can say I previously agreed with you on was caps; I dislike writing too much in caps, though, like the bold, I feel it can serve purpose. I am a person who likes to read aloud, and I tend to write with the intention of indicating how one might read the dialog – italicized always seemed more low and/or incredulous, while bold was more gruff and loud. Caps was loud, unrestrained, usually temperamental yelling.  
****But I'll take that to heart, Dearie, thank you. I can't say I'll never disown the caps, with all the temperamentals I tend to write; but to be sure, you, my mother, and my LA teacher shall never see another bolded sect of narrative ever again.  
****Except, of course, for the lovely notes I like to write you.  
****And anyone who knows the two 'Boy Meets World' correlations I made in this gets one of the cookies my mom says I'm making tomorrow.**


	10. In which there are Plan B's

**Key:  
**"**Talking – English in an English setting / Japanese in a Japanese setting; Japanese heard by a person who speaks only English and visa-versa."  
**'**Talking – Any other language than the "text in the quotation marks."'  
**'_**Telekinesis'  
**__**Thinking / Conscience**_

**First off, sorry about the unicorn****…?  
****No, actually, I'm not. The sadistic side of me that was still angst-ing needed that.  
****Anyway – I apologize to everyone (especially to those who caught it) about my "A"-class demon mistake. I haven't seen YYH in a while, so I guess I kind of forgot about "S"-class demons****…eh.  
****In any case, I've got it fixed by now. Anything else I might have screwed up about, please tell me, Dearies – or, if I called them "A" in more than one place ('coz I only saw the one) again, tell me. **

**Rated T for Teen

* * *

**

**Chpt. 10  
In which there are "Plan B's"**

Seamus was by far the worst off in group of English that had fought the demons. He'd had the poisonous stinger of a scorpion-like demon pierce his arm; and not long following the conclusion of the battle, he had gotten a dry fever, gone temporarily colorblind, and the skin around the wound had turned purple. Then, of course, a frantic Madam Pomfrey had insisted that Dumbledore stay and do something to help her (rather than deal with the foreigners straight off), being that all of her remedies were not working, and her only other solution was to send him to St. Mungo's. Dumbledore, since he hadn't wanted Seamus to loose his arm, or die, had called for the foreigners.

Minamino had made Seamus sit in a tube of ice water with an ice bag on his head (ignoring Pomfrey's exclamations that only muggles did silly things like that) and asked Professor Sprout to come up to the infirmary; and with her and Neville's help, as well as Sprout's greenhouses, they quickly worked out a balm that, when applied to the wound, almost immediately turned the skin back to its normal color. The ointment, he said, would have to be applied hourly until Seamus started to sweat again (then he could come out of the bathtub), he had full use of his sight, and his fever was completely obliterated.

And Seamus did not seem to hate Minamino so much after that.

Then, because that the rest of the patients were not suffering from life-threatening, demonic maladies, and thus those prominent in curing such aliments were not needed, Dumbledore had earnestly marched the foreigners up to his office. There were crowds of people outside the hospital wing, pushing to see what was going on, who was dieing, and how they might take pictures; but Dumbledore, with his commanding presence and headmaster-ness, and the foreigners, who had all descended into dark, threatening moods, easily cut through the thicket.

And that is how it had been for the past half-hour; aurors with some healer's experience, Madam Pomfrey, Professor Snape, and Neville were scrambling around to care for the gashes on Luna's leg, the burns Ron had on the back of his hands and arms, and other such novelties the masquerade of demons had left them with (Professor Sprout had gone back to her quarters, though she had left behind a vast array of herbs for their pleasure.) Lavender, Collin, Pavarti, and Botan had been allowed into the infirmary to check on their friends, and the latter two were currently trying to consol the foremost; who, having found out that the foreigners were being expelled for breaking plenty of school rules (twice), was crying something about never seeing Minamino again.

Harry wasn't suffering from anything significant, just the cuts from Minamino's grass and a bit of frostbite on his shoulder after a close encounter with an ice-oriented demon. So Neville got around to him last.

"Oh, your shoulder'll be fine, Harry, don't worry," He said almost cheerfully, coming back with a potion in a brown bottle, "Professor Snape had some frostbite balm in his supplies that he brought down, and since it's only a bit of skin, you just put this on it and wrap it up—," Neville picked up a roll of bandages as he spoke, "—and it'll be fine by Monday evening. You'll be better before break starts Tuesday."

"Er, Neville," Harry began as the boy began to dab some of the potion on with a cotton ball, "how'd you get so good at this…?" He hadn't seemed overtly apt at healing before.

"Well, you know how I like plants, right?" Neville asked.

"Yeah, of course," Neville had always been excellent in Herbology, and it had always been his favorite class.

"Well, ever since Minamino came here, I've – er…" And then he trailed off.

"What? You can tell me, Neville, I won't laugh."

"Well, you just saw how well he can manipulate plants into medicine and stuff, and I, er, talked to him about it and some other stuff on the train, and asked a lot about his plants and how he does it all, and it sounded really cool, so I…I've been trying to do what he does."

Harry blinked.

"I mean I know I'll never be able to talk to plants and make flowers into weapons and stuff like that, but I've been trying a few different things with making salves and potions… It's been really helpful, because I'm in Care of Magical Creatures, and when we have to take care of the fire crabs, well – you know how they burn you and all… I can make a burn salve with only two ingredients. That's why I asked to help with Seamus, and that's actually what I used on Ron.

"And I can cure a really nasty stench with this one potion I make out of my mimbulus mimbletonia's stinksap!" He said as he finished tying the bandages, "See, Gran wrote me and was complaining about this ache she had in her knees, and I decided to play around and try something to relieve it – but then everything I tried didn't really work at all… Except, when I went up to the owlery to mail my letter back to Gran, I had a little vial of it in my bag, and while I was trying to find my letter I dropped it. When it smashed on the flagstones, the owl droppings smell was gone!"

"That's really great, Neville!" Harry said, though he didn't seem quite as excited as Neville obviously felt about this accomplishment. Neville hadn't been the smartest person in Hogwarts, mainly because it used to be he wasn't very magically able. He'd shown particular improvement in the Defense Against the Dark Arts when Harry had coached him in the DA last year; but he hadn't thought he'd improved in magical theory enough to make things from scratch, when he usually couldn't brew a potion to save his life. He was really advancing with Herbology.

"Yeah, thanks, Harry! Professor Sprout keeps telling me that I should be careful about experimenting, but she says it's still really good that I'm coming up with some stuff on my own."

"You should've told Minamino about it, I'm sure he would've worked on it with you."

Neville's smile fell. "No, I couldn't… Besides, they're getting expelled."

"But why not get his address, or something? You could write."

"No, it's just…I don't really like Minamino."

"Why? I mean, it's not like I'm best friends with him, but you have to say he's pretty easy to get along with…"

"Well, I… Have you seen him when he's just with his friends? I mean, it was really obvious back in October, but…"

"No, not really…he scolds them a lot, but I think that's just because they tease him."

"Well it's not… Look, on the train, he seemed friendly, but it felt like he was bored, like he actually didn't want to be there at all. But then at the same time, he felt nice, like he _did_ want to talk to me, and it was just…it was like he was two different people at the same time.

"And it makes me really nervous to be around him, you know, because it's strange that he never seems quite right and…I don't like talking to him. It's embarrassing for me to think like that, but I can't help it… And I don't think I'd be able to write him, either," And Neville sat down in a slump next to Harry on a hospital bed, frowning. He added, "It's almost like trying to start a conversation with Yusuke. He seems really immature, but at the same time, he feels older."

Harry's mouth had fallen open. He quickly closed it and said, "Hey, erm, I'm gonna' go check on Hermione. Do you mind?"

"Huh? Oh, no, not at all," He popped up from his seat, "I was gonna' go ask Madam Pomfrey if she had any of that bruise-fixing potion left – Ginny's getting a really nasty-lookin' shiner, and I think she might want some of it before she goes back to class tomorrow…" And off he went.

Harry, in the mean time, walked over to the bed Hermione was sitting on without a clue how this information might help her conspiracy plot, when her conspiracy was being evicted.

**lll**

At first, Kurama had tried to persuade Dumbledore out of their expulsion; being that Harry, Hermione, and Ron had done such things before in the school.

Dumbledore calmly pointed out that Harry, Hermione, and Ron _had_ broken rules, but they'd only broken rules in first and fifth year; in first year was when they broke into the vault where the sorcerer's stone was kept, and even then, if they hadn't, the stone would have been stolen, and such an action pardoned the rule breaking.

Then, in their fifth year, they left school grounds without permission; which had _also _adverted a more serious consequence, and besides wasn't serious enough to qualify for expulsion, being that much more dangerous things could be accomplished in a wizarding school.

"Such as," He said rather dryly, "taking on a hoard of demons when there were aurors positioned on grounds specifically for that purpose. To be sure, the others who participated in such an act will be punished as strenuously as you three were upon first offense – but not until their second offence shall they be treated as you are now.

"Mr. Minamino, Mr. Jaganshi, I am very terribly disappointed to inform you that the items I confiscated from you in November have mysteriously disappeared."

None of the three were bothered to even pretend to be surprised – especially since the way Dumbledore was looking at them over his spectacles made it obvious he knew what had happened to them.

"But I don't think that bothers you too terribly much."

They were silent.

"In any case, Hogwarts will be willing to pay you back for your lost possessions, should you request it – but Mr. Urameshi, I am afraid I'm not required to either return to you your cigarettes, or refund you for them."

Yusuke shrugged, "Naw, s'all right; my old school didn't, either."

"I see. From there on, we'll have to inform your parents – or perhaps your school? We need to figure out who will be picking you up from Platform Nine and Three Quarters once we put you on the train Tuesday, and as the only people we have listed as your guardians are a department in Magical Japan's government, I suppose I'll have to contact _them_ about your expulsion, yes?"

"That would be correct, Professor. They will make the arrangements."

"Excellent, then. You three will be allowed to your dormitories to gather your things; if all goes as planned, you shall be on the train by Tuesday afternoon. Please prepare accordingly."

"Yes, Professor."

"Yeah…sir."

Hiei started at Dumbledore indifferently.

"Excellent. You are dismissed."

**lll**

Once the foreigners had left, Dumbledore had sighed and rubbed his eyes with his hand. So admittedly, the Japanese conspiracy problem had just taken care of itself, supposing that Japan didn't flip out and decide to retaliate against Britain – but something simply did not seem right. There had to be more to this than he saw.

Dumbledore sat that way for a while, until, ten minutes or so after, Minerva knocked on his door.

"Come in, come in…have they arrived?"

"Yes, Albus; the Minister is here to speak with you now."

"Good. Send him in, then."

She nodded and closed the door. A while later, Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister of Magic, barged in looking just as harassed and tired as Dumbledore felt. Four men entered behind him along with Minerva, two of which was Percy Weasley, and the other the wizard in charge of the group of aurors that had been posted at Hogwarts.

"Headmaster Dumbledore – please allow me to introduce you to Mr. John Piper, the new Head of the Auror office; Mr. Percy Weasley, my personal assistant; and Mr. Daniel Seymour, Head of Foreign Policies. You are of course acquainted with Mr. Largent."

"Yes, Rufus; how do you do, Mr. Piper, Mr. Seymour?"

And pleasantries were exchanged.

"Now please, you and your men have a seat; I have a feeling we might be at this for a while…"

"Of course, thank you," And, disgruntled, the Minister flicked his wand and an armchair appeared, which he then sat down in. The other four chose to stand, and Minerva still kept her place next to the door. Percy began to take notes on a clip board, utterly ignoring Dumbledore.

"I don't mean to sound too forward on this matter, Dumbledore, but I cannot even guess on how to begin otherwise…

"What in the world are you doing?"

"I apologize, Rufus, but I have absolutely no idea of what you mean. Please elaborate."

Scrimgeour frowned. "Perhaps I should start at the beginning, then… As you might have assumed, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has been completely avoiding our attempts at finding him. We can't track the important death eaters because they have lowly ones do their work; and they, when caught, are ignorant of anything significant. We keep arriving at places where we've found out they might've been near, but every _time_, it's either a false lead, or we're simply too late.

"The weather is consistently more horrible than usual, and more and more Dementers are deserting Azkaban every day, so we know he's got _them_ on his side again. We haven't seen much of the giants for a while, and chances are He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has gotten to them, as well.

"People are disappearing constantly – except then, unlike the _last _war, they turn up barely identifiable, entirely mauled, and we continue to find that any _logical_ explanation for these occurrences we might have always contain faults.

"And we saw the corpses outside; we have our agents gathering them for testing. But good_ God_, Dumbledore, what if demons never really became extinct? They would certainly be the type of species to side with Voldemort, and then we would be in trouble – because those details _alone_ would cause a panic that the Ministry certainly doesn't need to deal with. We knew no one was going to believe that those creatures back in November were butchered trolls for long, and it's starting to happen. Before things get out of control, we need Japan, practically the only country that still has a legitimate amount of demon slaying expertise, on our side. And expelling their students for doing what they have been _taught_ to do is _not_ the way to forage alliances!"

"Mr. Dumbledore, I'm afraid he's right," said the Foreign Policies, "Normally, expulsion cases like this are not a big deal between countries, but Japan and Britain, let alone Europe, haven't been remotely accommodating to each other for the past three hundred years; in addition, this is not a case they will sympathize with. Demon slaying is the basis for Japan's type of magic, and is not looked down on even if the slayers are children. This has bound to have some negative reverberations, especially since Japan was the one to reach out first."

"I am quite aware of the consequences of my actions, but I have to take them. The foreigners have broken rules I specified were there for not only their safety, but also the safety of my other students. I believe Mr. Largent briefed you on the situation, correct, Minister?"

"Yes…"

"Don't you think, perhaps, the students who fought beside Mr. Urameshi, Mr. Jaganshi, and Mr. Minamino who were injured would have gone inside had the foreigners done so also? What would have happened if any of my students – or the foreigners for that matter – had died? Wouldn't you suppose Japan, not to mention Britain, would have been even _more_ livid with _that_ outcome?"

Scrimgeour was silent, as was Mr. Seymour.

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Snape, looking somewhat paler than usual, stepped into the office. "Headmaster, there's someone here to see you. He's at the front gates."

"Well, if you would be so kind as to inform him that I will be there shortly—,"

"I'm afraid this cannot wait, Sir."

"However so, Severus?"

"It's Japan's Minister. Come personally to address you and the Minister."

Scrimgeour stood up suddenly. "What does he want?" And then he threw a disapproving look over to Dumbledore.

"He requests you sign a temporary peace treaty, valid for the next week; he will not see you until the Minister has signed it, and it is in his possession."

"Why all the trouble, Severus? Did he say?"

"He said he wants to forage an alliance between Great Britain and Japan."

**lll**

It was the only solution they had. Admittedly, the plan to keep demons a complete secret had long ago been trashed, ever since that Voldemort had ordered a trio of "C"-class demons to publicly enact destruction at the Hogwarts quidditch match (for there were certainly a significant population in Europe who believed that demons still existed, between the ridiculous excuse the Ministry told the _Profit_, and the sudden plethora of very unhelpful small-time magazine articles on demonology) – and that had no longer been the focus so much as maintaining general discretion and watching out for Potter's neck.

General discretion had been thought to've been kept relatively nicely – until the conspiracy had been discovered.

Now, with the expulsion of Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama, Koenma's office was in tatters with ogres sprinting around to get five-second plans approved that would, hopefully, save the mission, and their asses. It was highly unlikely that Botan would be able to continue the part of the mission that included protecting Potter, and it would be catastrophic if she failed – thus mending things earlier would have to be their choice of action. Koenma had been trying to contact the team for the past ten minutes, but all four of his temporary Reikai Tentai had their communicators turned off.

And then Koenma had to be off to make an appearance to his father, to explain about and persuade him to sign a temporary and long-standing treaty with magical Great Britain.

After much sweating and assuring that the only thing the boys had done to be expelled was to protect the school from demons, nothing in the way of blowing their cover, King Enma finally agreed, and signed. He gave his approval on the other documents Koenma had made up, given specific instructions on how to go about everything and what to do if Britain refused – and then Koenma gathered up a calling party made up of the royal guard and his most reliable ferry girls.

All of them transformed into their human forms and dressed up in human garb, because Japan couldn't seem to have pacts with demons; it would make the British trust them more if they were allowed to believe their own narrow-minded opinions of demons, and just allow everything in general to go along more smoothly (it was all stated in the Reikai's portion of paper work).

And so it was that, not even an hour after the damning incident had occurred, Koenma was seated in his elaborate foot carriage, four ogres in front and back to carry him and an additional four as guard (more for look, in their uniforms, than need). Three ferry girls floated behind the carriage on their oars, including Ayame. They were in a room that transported that which could not fly from Reikai to the other worlds by cutting through dimensions. Koenma signaled they were ready for transport to Hogwarts' grounds, and the directing operator (in a different room with a window that looked in on them) appeared to have readied the instruments, and, with a nod to the other operators, pressed the button that issued a ten-second warning bell; and then the one that would teleport them.

Nothing happened.

Koenma's eyes narrowed.

Just then, the miniature television screen mounted in the carriage in front of him beeped and lit up.

Botan appeared to be sitting in a bathroom stall, completely clothed with the toilet lid down. She had a worried look on her face as she whispered, "Koenma-sama, you saw it…?"

"_Of course_ I saw it! What do you take me for? Incompetent?"

Botan flinched, "Please, sir, I know you're upset, but it wasn't their faults—,"

"I _know_, I know – but this is very stressing business, besides," The operator had nodded again to the others, the warning sounded, and they attempted to teleport again; nothing happened. "Do you know how long I have been trying to get a hold of you?"

"Yes, sir, but I've been busy with the English – I only just got away. But, Koenma-sama, what are we going to _do_?"

And Koenma explained for a good five minutes, while the operating crew continued to fail at ripping a hole into Ningenkai, what was to take place.

"Are, are you _sure_ this is the best course of action…?"

"That Dumbledore man will not be bribed. We've thought it over, and chances are, whatever we throw at him short of war (which would be insulting, so we don't want to try _that_, just in case we end up having to do our work around England again) would not make him waver. I told you, we're not mentioning any demons, and it should be that you and those three will be able to keep things quiet in that regard – after all, that Granger kid hasn't suspected _that_ aspect yet…" Koenma sighed, "I can't wait until they let them spar regularly – that way Winter Solstice won't be so completely crazy…"

And once again the operators failed to teleport them.

Koenma shoved his door open and screamed, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING _ON_ UP THERE?"

Everyone in the room jumped; Botan flinched again.

The operator's voice broke out through the speakers in the room corners, "Er, I'm very deeply sorry, Koenma-sama, but there appears to be some sort of force-field upon the Hogwarts grounds. We have been unsuccessful at breaking a portal through."

"_WHAT_?"

"Oh! Yes, I heard of that!" Koenma's attention switched to Botan, "It's impossible to teleport onto Hogwarts grounds – there's an enchantment that prohibits it!"

"Well you could have said something _earlier_, Botan! I've been waiting for the past _ten minutes_!"

"Erm, sorry, I suppose it just slipped my mind…"

"So how are we to _get_ there?"

"I think the front gates aren't enchanted…you could appear there and send a running up, if you'd like?"

"Humph," And Koenma yelled Botan's instructions out to the operators. They agreed to find the location, and, with the warning bell, Koenma pulled the carriage door shut.

The portal way suddenly opened, ripping apart its air seams until it was a healthy-sized hole leading to a dark abyss of squares with a faint light at the end.

The ogres picked up the carriage and began to walk, the ferry girls floating along behind.

"We're off, Botan. We'll be seeing you in no less than ten minutes, considering we don't have another _fiasco_… Get yourself and the boys ready, I want you to be there when I'm meeting with the Minister and Dumbledore."

Botan nodded, and then the screen went black.

**lll**

A trio of fourth year boys suddenly ran past the doorway of sixth years' dorm, down the spiral staircase that led into the common room, shouting something along the lines of a giant Chinese take-out box.

Hiei and Yusuke stopped their careless packing for a moment, and Kurama's tilted up from where he was lounging against the wall; they all slowly turned to face each other, raising their eyebrows.

Then abruptly there was more shouting, something about a person not allowed to do something.

Footsteps, someone running; and then Botan appeared in the doorway, panting. She glanced back down the hallway, shrieked, and darted inside the dorm room. She bolted up to Yusuke and hid behind him, gasping, 'Make them _stop_—,'

The fourth year boys skidded to a halt in the threshold, two of them with their wands out. They glared at Botan for a moment before they took in the demons.

Yusuke, angry at failing something spiritually relevant for the first time, was glowering in an abnormally demonic way; Kurama, because he now had to find another way to pay for college himself (or, more importantly, find a legal way to do so, as to not bother his mother financially or lawfully), wore his signature cold eyes; and Hiei was Hiei was Hiei, so with one imploring step forward from him (coupled with the other two's melancholy), the group fled without further investigating Botan's presence, or even questioning Kurama's.

'Th-thanks, _I_ didn't want to be expelled, too, for hitting them with my oar…'

'That's _not_ funny.'

'Oh, don't be so gloomy, Yusuke! It's so unusual for you – besides, everything's taken care of,' Botan collapsed back onto the bed that had once been his, 'I just talked to Koenma-sama – he says that we're making a treaty with Britain.'

'I thought he wanted to take care of the problem without getting tied down by anyone,' And Kurama rested back against the wall.

'Well, at this rate, he said we'll never get rid of the demonic activity in Europe without some form of honesty, because while we _could_ bribe Dumbledore, he's already under the impression we're some sort of evil conspiracy, and so he probably wouldn't take anything. Then, sending more detectives might end up being just as fruitless as before in the sense of defeating Voldemort (what with our other detectives being rather unskilled, and you three guarding Potter-san); and so Koenma-sama and Enma-sama have decided you'll need Britain's help if you're going to take care of everything. A treaty _will_ be something of a compromise, but it's not like we'll loose if we get sucked into a war supporting Britain, between our armies, our Spirit Detectives, and the Spirit Defense Force.

'But the catch is, we're not going to tell them about our association with demons, or the fact that Magical Japan's government isn't mortal. First of all, we don't want to have to deal with the whole gods-thing, especially with such a large group of people with a completely different religion. Secondly, if they're allowed to think that all demons are bad, it'll justify eliminating the group from Europe, and they also won't have to adjust to working with them. The ogres coming with Koenma-sama are all in _their_ human forms, and the ferry girls are also pretending to be human, because what with Europe's broomsticks, the oars will have a good enough explanation – or at least, that's what I told McGonagall when she interrogated me about it, and _she_ believed me.

'Koenma-sama and Enma-sama will pretend to be normal Emperors, not gods, and Koenma-sama will appear in his tall form.

'And _you_ three, of course, will be completely human 18-year-old boys. You can tell them about how you got to _be_ Spirit Detectives, the things you've been through, that you're only temporary now – and Koenma-sama encouraged the idea, since if they know all you've done for _Ningenkai_ they'll probably trust you more – but just leave out all the demonic stuff.'

'But I am nineteen, Botan.'

'Well, _you_ know what I mean…' She said, shrugging, 'Hiei, you'll have to come up with some sort of past, but…I think you'll manage!' Then she smiled, 'And _I_ don't have to pretend to like you anymore!'

Kurama started then, his eyes wide.

'What, Kurama?'

'Oh _Inari_, _what_ am I going to do about Brown? And every other girl in the castle…' He dropped his head into one of his hands, groaning.

Botan and Yusuke started laughing. Hiei threw down the shirt he'd been "packing," grabbed his _katana_ from the bottom of his trunk, and began to tie it with his sash around his waist.

'Well Fox, _you're_ screwed, but _I_ don't have to use that stupid spirit sword every time I want to chop something up anymore.'

'As long as the situation pleases _you_, Hiei, it will surely suffice for every other curse upon _my_ head.'

'Ooo, _look_!' And Botan pointed out the window next to Kurama, 'They've arrived! Okay, okay, Koenma-sama wanted us there to greet him, so come on, you guys! – Hiei, are you _really_ going to wear that in front of everyone before they know the truth?'

'It's not the _truth_, Reaper, it's a fabrication. And besides, you think I'll actually _hand it over_, considering I don't have to limit my abilities any longer?'

'…Just, don't break any _bones_, that's not a good way to start things…'

**lll**

Ayame had returned with the treaty, and had given to it Koenma; who had sent it back, via one of his other ferry girls, to his father for safe keeping, especially if they decided to try anything after the treaty was in affect. He had then ridden all the way to the castle in his box, hoping the ogres were acting at least semi-tired after hauling around a giant, heavy, ornate carriage (and being human at the same time), when the subtle swaying motion ceased and there was a polite knock on the carriage door.

Koenma slid the small window-shutter on the door sideways slightly, and gave a haughty look at the bright blue eye that greeted him.

"Good afternoon, Minister," For it was certainly nearing twelve by then, "I hope you will pardon me for being rude and ignorant on this matter, but won't you introduce us to yourself?"

"I am Prince Enma Junior, son of King Enma Senior, though _you_ could call me Koenma-sama if it suited you," He still had to be somewhat polite.

"Ah, your English is excellent, Koenma-sama," The eye said pleasantly, "I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is a pleasure to meet you, Koenma-sama."

"And the same to _you_, I suppose… May we proceed to a secure place to talk of matters?"

"Yes, of course – my office will do just fine. I am assuming you're here to speak with Minister Rufus Scrimgeour, as well, Koenma-sama?"

"Yes."

"If I may probe so boldly, how did you come across the information that he was visiting me at this time?"

"That is unimportant," Koenma replied, nonchalantly, "Not as important as matters pressing."

"Of course, Koenma-sama. Would you care to step out, then, and continue your journey on foot? I'm afraid your lovely carriage will not fit inside my office."

"As long as I may bring my three best guard and my two head ferry girls."

"I believe that is in order, if the ferry girls are the young women on the oars."

"Yes, they are."

And Koenma knocked on the front of the carriage, and the ogres set it down. He opened the door and stooped out, before standing up to Dumbledore's great height; he was at least a foot shorter than the wizard.

Dumbledore blinked at his appearance (probably the youth of his features, the Jr. on his forehead, and the pacifier he had clenched forcefully between his teeth) before graciously bowing. Koenma exchanged the gesture with him, and then with the stunned Minister standing to his left. Then he said, loudly, "Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama?"

The entrance hall, full of whispering students and teachers, fell silent at this.

And just as Koenma had planned, there came from somewhere in the back of the silent group watching the proceedings:

"Yes, Koenma-sama?"

"Yeah, Koenma…er, sama?"

"…_Yes_, sir?"

"_You_ heard Dumbledore-san," He replied, without turning away from the two before him, "I may bring my guard."

Koenma waited rather patiently until the three had pushed their way through the crowd and, with a bit of prodding from Kurama, properly positioned themselves behind him. Dumbledore and the Minister looked stunned.

"Botan, Ayame?"

And Ayame, clad in her black and purple, floated down from behind the carriage and stood on his left, at attention with her oar. Botan hurried through the crowd and over to Koenma's right; she called up her oar and also took position.

"I am ready, now, Dumbledore-san – Scrimgeour-sama. Let us proceed."

Dumbledore blinked out of his shock, and smiled strangely – Koenma could not decide whether he was remorseful or ironic or entertained by this development.

"I see we have much to talk about, Koenma-sama."

"Indeed we do, Dumbledore-san."

* * *

**Footnotes:**

**None_ again_. _Whee—_!  
****I am _liking_ this 'cut-off-before-you-write-twenty-pages' business.  
****This is _fun_.  
****Hell, I don't think I have any _notes_, either. Lemme' check—  
****NONE!  
****Whoo. 'Coz I took care of the "A"-class thinger in the top…  
****Alright, then. See you lot next chapter. **


	11. In which Percy takes much notes

**Key:  
**"**Talking – English in an English setting / Japanese in a Japanese setting; Japanese heard by a person who speaks only English and visa-versa."  
****'Talking – Any other language than the "text in the quotation marks."'  
**'**Telekinesis'  
**_**Thinking / Conscience**_

**I just kind of noticed – I've broken a hundred reviews.  
****(YES.)  
****I am so **_**very**_** pleased that the lot of you Dearies are so wondrously talkative. I feel rather embarrassed that this chapter isn't all that extraodinary. **

**Oh, and that reminds me – before we start I just wanna' thank my **_**wonderful**_** (and apparently incredibly hyper) beta, DJ Rei, for her wonderful beta-ness. :3 You can thank her for fixing up the Footnotes, among other things. **

**Rated T for Teen**

**

* * *

****Chpt. 11  
****In which Percy takes much notes **

"All we ever wanted, all we ever meant by this, was to get the demons back under our control. To do so, we had no choice. In the beginning, we were certainly aware that non-spiritual humans would be harmed in the fight against Voldemort-sama—," A flinch from everyone but Dumbledore and the Japanese went unacknowledged as the Japanese Minister continued, "—but it had been decided that we would only become involved if things got out of hand. However, when he began to interfere with demons, the subjects that we personally dedicated ourselves to controlling ever since the Demonic Extermination Act of 1703, he stepped into _our_ line of work.

"This is why I sent my most experienced demon exorcists," he explained as he gestured to the five standing at attention behind him, "In addition, I've had some others doing patrols in the outer woods surrounding Hogwarts. However, they're not as experienced so progress has been slow-going. After all, they only took five or ten heads from the group of demons that assaulted you today. But if it will put you at rest for the time being, I _am_ pulling them out of England until we come to an agreement."

Scrimgeour stared back indifferently; Dumbledore observed the boy (for he was, certainly, a teenager, perhaps even younger than his guard) over his threaded fingertips with an airy interest; Percy Weasley scribbled fiercely on his clipboard; and the rest of the room, Ministry and McGonagall alike, were still rather stunned.

That is how it had been ever since the group had entered the office, seated themselves accordingly, and Koenma-sama had started to explain why he wanted a treaty.

He had yet to elaborate the fact that three sixteen-year-olds were considered worthy of being a royal guard, why one of his head ferry girls (they appeared to be something like accountants) was also in her teens, and what the lot had been doing in Hogwarts – but it didn't appear to be coming up any time soon, and there were other, more pressing things to be discussed.

"I see. There's something I wish to ask you, Koenma-sama," Scrimgeour began testily, "and I expect you'll answer truthfully?"

"Of course, Scrimgeour-sama."

"Thank you. You're aware that other countries may come and go and do as they please in Great Britain, as long as it abides by our laws, correct?," At Koenma's prompt, Scrimgeour continued, "While these people you sent have done nothing illegal—," at this, Yusuke smirked and nudged Hiei, who glared at him for a moment before a glance from "Kurama" had them both straightening back up, "—this instance could very well be seen as a special case of infringement on national security. Now I ask you, why did you not seek permission to conduct _your_ government business in _our_ country?

Koenma sighed and shifted in his seat, "Please excuse me for what I say, but it _is_ the truth. We disliked the idea of a treaty—not specifically with Britain, but with Europe in general. We did not want to be pressed into joining you if, per say, you were to go to war with another country. Magical Japan has no intention of killing its people because of feuds that do not concern us.

"However, the current war against Voldemort-sama does, and we will risk the other things to ensure that he doesn't allow any more powerful demons out of Makai."

"I beg your pardon, but could you please explain what you mean by 'Makai'? It is obvious that we have no idea where He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is getting these demons you so attest to…"

"I don't believe I have to attest the existence of demons any longer, Scrimgeour-sama. But in religion, Makai would represent Hell; translated into English, it is simply the Demon World. It is the dimension the demons were exiled to, and where they have solely existed since their extinction from Ningenkai, the Human World.

"This brings us to another point. You see, even if you did kill all demons in this world, rips and tears occur between the dimensions, in an area called the _Sudo_ Space, and thus allow demons to sneak through into the Human World from the Demon World. To protect the Human World from demons, we erected the _Kekkai_ Barrier. However, it functions much like Muggle fishing net, and a few of the weaker demons may leak out while the most powerful demons are held in. Also, the _Kekkai_ Barriercan be torn to where more demons can get through until the barrier is mended. Thankfully, we have an excellent tracking system, and thus are able to nip these happenings in the bud before too much damage is done. Through this we first found out that Voldemort-sama—,"

"Would you mind calling him 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'?"

The Ministers frowned at each other.

"…Fine. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was making his _own_ holes in the dimensions and pulling demons through. Recruiting them to his death eaters, I suppose, probably with the notion of giving them all the non-magical humans they could eat," Koenma lent forward in his chair, "Weren't you dieing to know what type of 'animal' was mutilating your people?"

Before Scrimgeour could answer, Koenma straightened and continued, "But this issue can become much more dangerous than simply recruiting 'D'-class demons. To understand this, you must know that Japan rates the aura of demons on a scale of 'E', 'D', 'C', 'B', 'A', and 'S'-class, in increasing order of power. We are unable to control the 'S'-class demons due to their enormous power. They and the 'A'-classes generally reside in some of the lowest bowels of Demon World and do not care about the happenings of Human World.

"The issue is that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has begun to increase the ability of his summoning spells. Before, he was only capable of summoning 'E' and 'D'-class demons. Now he is able to call forth 'C'-classes. While this is nothing that we are incapable of handling, as it is highly unlikely for anything above a 'C'-class to be susceptible to a summoning, my sources tell me that the holes in the _Kekkai_ Barrier are beginning to attract attention. Sooner or later, demons of all levels will be flocking to the holes He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is opening, and all of Europe, not just England, will be invaded once again. Magical discretion will be obliterated, and, with demons shamelessly attacking humans and the discovery of the magical world among Muggles, chaos will ensue for quite some time before we can regain control of the situation again.

"That, of course, is only if 'A' and 'B'-class demons are released. Like I said, there _would_ be trouble, but damage control would be possible—my guard, for instance, are each specially trained to take down an 'A'-class, should the need to arise."

Dumbledore interrupted before Koenma could continue, "But I believe Mr.…" he paused and turning his gaze towards Kurama and furrowing his brow he continued, "I apologize, but may I inquire as to what your name is? I fear you were once 'Shuichi Minamino,' but now it appears to be something else . . ."

"Kurama would be fine, sir. It is the name the Ministry has me listed under."

"Ah, I see, Mr. Kurama," Dumbledore tilted his head slightly, as if he saw something he found curious, but did not press it; "Mr. Kurama told me that he and his friends were only trained to deal with 'B'-class demons."

"Well of course they had to maintain a _semi_-adolescent front. Surely you had no idea how powerful 'B'-classes are, but to trump the seemingly highest class would come across as rather professional – which at the time, we did not want you to know.

"As I said, 'A' and 'B's can be taken care of – but an 'S'-class demon is a totally different matter. To let an 'S'-class free would be Armageddon to all humans; and that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is aware of this is laughable. No demon under him would dare inform him that it would be beyond his will to control a demon above 'C'-class, if it would mean they could completely invade Human Word.

"Now as I said, Japan has recently re-erected a _Kekkai _Barrier in between the two worlds; but unfortunately, it is also possible to rip it open again. All it would take for Voldemort to do so would be to learn a special technique – and it is not a secret; after all, a _Kekkai _Barrier has been opened before. Not to mention, little research would be needed to find the information specifying how to learn the technique, let alone expose the barrier so that it may be ripped.

"What I'm saying is, even if we erect this bulwark, there is still a great liability that our efforts will be wasted. This is why Japan needs your help to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and solve the problem in its seed. That would start with the extermination of any demons under his control."

"How many, exactly," Scrimgeour began, "do you think He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has, currently? Demons, I mean. My assumption is that, because our population hasn't been remotely decimated with demon attacks, there aren't a very great many, correct?"

"Kurama? Would you like to explain that?"

The boy nodded at the Minister's request and said, "Actually, there's a chance he's collected a great deal. If He-Would-Must-Not-Be-Named was intelligent, he wouldn't have sent sixty or-so demons out to be slaughtered today, as 'D'-classes often are, if he thought it might deplete his numbers. Besides, demons do not need human meat daily to function, and it is often supplemented for other things for short periods of time; some have even survived for centuries before succumbing to starvation. And it would probably be in his best interest to keep them hungry, anyway; understandably, demons tend to be more vicious when they want food.

"And it is incomprehensible otherwise."

"Why would it be that way, Mr. Kurama?"

"Because, Dumbledore-san, normal 'D'-class demons would have fled once we had uncapped our aura. However in this instance, between their hunger and the solstice, it did not avert them."

"Uncapped?"

"It is common practice of someone of our work to suffocate their aura to keep from being disrupted constantly by magical entities and such. We of course do this, but this morning we allowed our full energies to be sensed when it became apparent that we needed to utilize the full potential of our auras, the first of which are, basically, scare tactics."

"So you tried to frighten them away."

"Exactly. However, while it seemed to work on every other creature in the forest, it obviously had no affect on the demons—which can be explained by their unusual inanity caused by hunger and the solstice. Of course, you would already know that magical creatures are usually disturbed by such happenings."

"Yes. That makes perfect sense, then. Thank you," And Dumbledore sat back in his chair, "But there's one thing I'd like to clarify before I make my judgment on the matter—and I believe Scrimgeour would like to hear this, as well, before he decides. Pray tell, _why_ did you send your best men to watch my school, rather than confront Lord Voldemort directly?"

Koenma seemed to understand the look in his eye, and said, bluntly, "I have the feeling you already know, Dumbledore-san."

He smiled, "But why don't you inform us so that we might know for sure what your intentions were? And, of course, will be, considering Japan and Great Britain decide to help each other."

"Yes," Scrimgeour interjected, "I most certainly agree."

"Well, I would think it would be obvious. You are aware of a prophecy that my sources said stated that a Harry Potter-san would kill He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I have had these three keep close watch on him so that, in case the prophecy implied that _only_ Potter-san would be able to kill him, they could prevent his death, should He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named try anything after the prophecy—which he surely would, and apparently has."

Then Koenma scowled, "It has all been _very _embarrassing, actually—with Potter-san and his friends nit-picking everything they did, I am unable to say whether _you three_," and he addressed Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama directly, "are full-grown specialists, or if you're just a buncha' fourteen-year-old novices nearly getting yourselves killed over 'C'-class demon lords."

Kurama frowned at the word novice (Hiei scowled); though Yusuke didn't seem bothered by it, and shrugged.

"Aww, don't be so sore, Koenma-sama; _you_ know those were the good-ol'-days, besides, with Kuwabara falling on his ass every time he met a 'D'-class and Hiei monolog-ing me like a bad guy," The boy grinned as Hiei elbowed him. Then he turned to Kurama and said, "Fox-boy's never changed, though; he was just as much of a moma's boy _then_ as he is _now_."

He got elbowed for that one, too.

Koenma met the room's raised eyebrows as he turned back around, and addressed the matter simply with, "I hired them for their talents, not their manners." He shrugged, and proceeded forth as if these exchanges were the norm; "Anyway, the purpose of the treaty with Japan will be to publicly assist you in your endeavors of defeating He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named – prohibiting his exploit of demons, and protecting Potter-san. Those are our priorities. Are they similar?"

"But of course, Koenma-sama," Scrimgeour said, relaxing for the first time during the conversation, "We certainly are flattered by your determination to work with us, even if it was a stretch for you originally. None-the-less, I am unsure of how this might plan out."

"I was going to detail that in the treaty. Would you like to talk it over amongst yourselves before you decide? I could come back tomorrow at the same time, though I would really prefer to have this done before Tuesday."

"That would be an excellent idea."

"Good. Ayame, would you please give Scrimgeour-sama a copy of the treaty we were thinking of?" He then turned back to the Minister, "You are of course welcome to change it as you wish, and then we shall talk of compromises tomorrow."

"Yes, that would be wonderful, Koenma-sama. Thank you."

Kurama spoke up then, "Headmaster, would you prefer us to sleep in our old dorms, as before; or because we are officially expelled, and no longer students, would it be wiser that we would board someplace else?"

Dumbledore frowned, as did Scrimgeour, "I'm sure you would understand me if I were to say that I would feel uncomfortable with three of your _best_ guard sleeping in my castle when we have not come to a proper agreement yet."

"But Dumbledore-san, that is why I requested a week-long temporary treaty. Japan is an honorable country, and we will respect all commitments we take until we are exempt from them. Not that they would, but should one of my three disrupt you in any unlawful way, I assure you, _we_ will take action for you. That reminds me…" Koenma turned to the three at the door, saying, "Ayame, what of their mail?"

Yusuke's face immediately lit up.

"Keiko wrote me back?"

"I doubt that she would not, Yusuke," Kurama said dryly, also watching the ferry girl closely as she shuffled through the papers she had in possession, "You _are_ wed…"

Hiei snorted, "I bet he forgets sometimes. Idiot."

"_Oi_! Shut up, dammit, I _do_ not!"

"Here," Ayame handed to each of them a letter and, from a bag at her feet, an oblong, black box; she gave two to both Yusuke and Kurama.

They began to exclaim at each other over the mail.

"_Aww_, Yukina's so sweet! She made me _bento_ too, this time!"

"_Okaasan_'s terrible, it takes such a long time to make _daifuku_ and she says she put some in here _again_…"

Hiei was reading the letter he'd gotten silently.

Koenma turned back to the rest of the room earnestly, "Besides their honor, they have plenty of incentive to be good," And he said, somewhat quieter, "We know where their loved ones live. They don't forget that.

"Not to mention, I doubt you want to have your students here when the demons under Voldemort-sama sense the absence of my _Reikai Tentai_."

_That must be their title, then._

After a moment, Dumbledore grabbed the "_Reikai Tentai_"'s attention, "On second thought, I suppose I could find a place for you, under the circumstances. Have all of your things moved out of your old dorms quickly, and I'll put you elsewhere in the castle. I shall announce this development at dinner to clear up the rumors; and then everyone will be prepared for when the _Daily Profit_ jumps us tomorrow. You will hold them off until then, Rufus?"

"We have to, yes; we want everything cleaned off the grounds before we let the _Profit_ go snooping about. We need to prepare a public announcement based on the information we've gathered that doesn't sound too cataclysmic _before_ the people come up with twisted ideas of the state of affairs. And besides, the gore is too inappropriate for the paper."

"Excellent. I will bid you your goodnight, then, Koenma-sama."

"As do I, Dumbledore-san, Scrimgeour-sama."

And parting pleasantries and bows were exchanged between them, even those of the group who did not speak. Once it was finished, Koenma turned on the _Reikai Tentai_.

"Now you three, _you_ heard me – behave yourselves! Hiei, if I see you throw _one more_ snowball like that flaming one at the children, I swear to _Father_…"

Once that was through with, the young minister walked out the door with Ayame behind him. Botan stayed with the other three, who began to exit after him.

But Dumbledore stopped them before they could leave. "Ms. Reikai, Mr. Urameshi, Mr. Jaganshi – those are _your_ real names, I suppose?"

"Erm, well, yes sir."

"Yeah, pretty much."

Hiei's answer was different; "I don't _have_ a last name. It's a _title_. Don't bother calling me by it."

It was probably the most Dumbledore had heard him speak.

"Shall I call you Mr. Hiei, then…?"

He rolled his eyes in a way that made it obvious he didn't care. "My name _is_ Hiei, you old fool."

Dumbledore smiled kindly in reply, stifling something in his throat that the boy probably wouldn't have liked, and Hiei turned with a huff to walk out the door first. "Come back to my office when you've finished packing."

"Of course, Headmaster."

And the other three walked out, Yusuke pulling the door shut behind them.

Soon afterwards, the Ministry officials began to plan out meetings that would last into the night, preparing for the coming day. McGonagall walked over to Dumbledore, and they decided she would oversee the foreigners' packing so that the students wouldn't bother them too much. Not too long after her departure, the officials finished their conversation, to be continued at the Ministry, and Scrimgeour turned tiredly back to Dumbledore as the rest packed their things.

"I believe this is one of the strangest things I'll ever encounter in office. Tell me, Albus, what kind of ruler still uses a _pacifier_, especially in public?"

"I have no idea, Rufus," Dumbledore steepled his fingers again, "But if that was the least of our problems, I would be a happier person."

Scrimgeour snorted in agreement, saying, "Yes – _demons_. This is just the sort of thing to pop up during the first year of my term."

Dumbledore chuckled grimly.

"No offence meant, Rufus; but again, I wish _those_ were the least of my problems."

* * *

**Footnotes: **

"**Percy Weasley scribbled fiercely on his clipboard"; 'Kay, so, to refresh you, Percy Weasley is a Weasley brother (obviously) whom is rather stuck-up and snobbish. He's the official assistant / scribe-thing to the minister and he doesn't talk to his family or any of his family's friends any longer because he thinks they were wrong to support Dumbledore back when he said that Voldemort had returned (long story, just go with it). He does not le spoiler make up with them until the end of the last book. **

"**Makai"; Demon World**

"**Ningenkai"; Human World**

"_**Sudo**_** Space"; 'Kay, so like Koenma said, the Sudo Space is the area around the three dimensions where rips occur and let demons/humans through (I would like to that this moment to worship my Blockbuster). However, your guess is as good as mine on if I spelled it correctly. Eh. ****So tell me if it's wrong. **

"_**Kekai**_** Barrier"; the barrier that keeps demons from exiting the Makai, thus protecting the Ningenkai and all of you humans in it. …It just doesn't protect you from me DJ REI the beta from devouring all of your souls!! MWAHAHAHAHA…ok, so I'm hyper today…sue me! (AHHH NO I WAS ONLY KIDDING! PLEASE DON'T SUE ME! PLEASE PLEASE OH PLEASE DOOON'T!!) . . . Anyways, back to the point. The **_**Kekkai **_**Barrier can be opened, ripped, and torn (As seen in the Sensui arc. Sensui was trying to open the barrier using Kuwabara's rei-ken (spirit sword) and actually succeeds without it…blah, blah. **

**_Bento_; Japanese lunch box. **

**_Daifuku_;_ Daifuku_ is a Japanese treat that is rich in sugar, consisting of a small round **_**mochi **_**(a kind of rice cake) stuffed with sweet filling. **_**Daifuku **_**comes in many varieties, the most common of which is filled with **_**anko**_** (sweet bean paste).**

**_Reikai Tantei_;"Spirit World Detective"**

**Hiei's title; "**_**Jaganshi**_**" or "Jagan Master" Like I said, Hiei's title.**

**NOTES: **'**Kay, so for Botan and Ayame being the head ferry girls; I know that's not really canon (but hey, I've done it before, I'll do it again), but it always seemed to be that they were the only ferry girls in Koenma's office. However, I always had the impression that it was implied that there were more than just them. I figured they were just the most important ones. Then I got it that Botan, because of her involvement with the Spirit Detectives and because she was usually the one Koenma counted on with stuff, is the head ferry girl. But, if she wasn't there, Ayame would be chosen next; thus she was the second in charge. Of the ferry girls.  
****Whatever.  
****Anyway, you get my point. I can't remember any other issues, so that'll be it. **


	12. In which there are Nightmares

**Key:  
**"**Talking – English in an English setting / Japanese in a Japanese setting; Japanese heard by a person who speaks only English and visa-versa."  
**'**Talking – Any other language than the "text in the quotation marks."'  
**'_**Telepathy'  
**__**Thinking / Conscience**_

**We have reached a milestone today. Behold – the second mini-conflict!  
**_**Whee.  
**_**Because of course you dearies just couldn't live without Hermione's adorable bouts of schizophrenia. **

_**Hey everybody it is I, DJ Rei. I just want to let you all know that it's my fault for the extreme lateness of this chapter. -' Sorry! I let all my schoolwork pile up so I forced myself to stay off the computer until I finally did complete it which took forever. So again, I apologize. I hope everybody stays loyal to this story and don't blame Nai-bu. Anyone who has flamed her for not updating should feel ashamed and should say apologize to her. lol! Now, I know how much everyone has been waiting for this chapter so, without further ado here is Chapter 12.**_

**Rated T for Teen**

**

* * *

****Chpt. 12  
****In which there are Nightmares **

The first corner turned from Dumbledore's office by Koenma, his ferry girls, and the guard, the prince felt a hand latch onto his shoulder and spin him around forcefully to face Yusuke Urameshi. He shoved Koenma up against the stone wall and put his hands on either side of his head threateningly, eyes narrowed in a deadly calm.

'You didn't just threaten Keiko back there, did you, Koenma?'

Behind him, Kurama and Hiei also turned to Koenma, glowering. Ayame, shocked, began to reason at them, but Hiei quieted her with one of his looks. Botan threw her hands around and scolded them vehemently about disrespecting the prince of Reikai.

'N-now, Yusuke, you know I would never do that! I respect Keiko-san, let alone I'd probably loose my head ferry girl if I ordered her killed! I trust _all_ you three, and the only reason I said that was because they weren't going to allow you to stay. It was merely a persuasive tactic!'

'I'll be _very_ persuasive, toddler, if you even _dare_ to say something like that again!'

'Er, yes, but – Kurama, you'll agree with me that it was just politics! You've probably done something like that before!'

'To begin, none of my associates ever had people they loved; and secondly, if I ever threatened death, I always carried through with it,' Kurama crossed his arms. 'I have to admit, Koenma-sama, that was _quite_ out of line.'

'All right, all right! I'll tell you guys beforehand if I try something like that again, but—,'

'You _won't_ do that again, _period_.'

'Well Yusuke, I can't guarantee anything—,'

"Excuse me? Is there something the matter?"

Everyone jumped, Yusuke shooting back to stand at attention with Kurama and Hiei, and Koenma dragged himself off the wall a half-second before McGonagall walked around the corner. She frowned slightly at the group, especially at the way Koenma was crossly straightening his uniform.

"Ah, no, McGonagall-_sensei_, we are perfectly fine. Thank you, you may proceed."

"But I was under the impression I heard arguing," McGonagall insisted, subconsciously drawing herself up to full height. "Was there a problem, Koenma-sama?"

"No, there was no problem. We were just discussing what we would do about, ah—,"

"—Reinforcements. Should Japan and Great Britain band together," Kurama interjected, sighing and shaking his head. He turned to Koenma, "Please, Koenma-sama, we can certainly handle this on our own."

"Yeah, er, Sir – sending in more people would just be a drag. We don't want to watch out for a bunch of green brownnosers while we're kicking ass and taking names."

Koenma quickly picked up the ruse, shaking his head sternly, "I _told _you, I'll take into consideration your opinions, but the final decision will be made by me and, err, my advisers. I won't guarantee you anything."

Then he turned to McGonagall imploringly. "Well? Are you satisfied?"

She frowned, but bowed and agreed, saying, "Professor Dumbledore requested that I accompany your guard, with the intention of keeping the students from interfering with them while they gathered their things."

"Oh, yes, that would be wonderful. I'm sure they'd be happy to oblige you," Koenma turned back to the group, adding in Japanese, 'Continue on with everything as planned, we'll talk of this later. Make sure you're in the front hall again tomorrow, I want you in the next peace meeting and I don't want to have to wait for you.' He nodded to McGonagall, and then they all continued their way to the front doors of the school.

Upon arriving, Ayame mounted her oar and began to float above the foot carriage positioned in the entrance room, and Koenma hopped inside the coach. Once comfortably seated, he rapped on the front of the carriage and was lifted into the air by the ogres. The steady back-and-forth motion began as he pressed the call button on the mini-television mounted before him, contacting the teleportation operators in Reikai to alert them that he was leaving the castle, and that they better pray they got the dimension hole right the first time so as not to keep him waiting.

**lll**

It had been Harry's luck that he'd gone to the privy right as the Japanese prince suddenly arrived. Once he returned to the crowd of people congealed in the front hall, to where Ron and Hermione stood at the back of the group, his friends had quickly described the exchange; including the declaration that suggested that the foreigners were important members of the Japanese government, and that the prince himself had addressed them by their given names.

Oh, yes, and that "Koenma-sama" had looked like he should still be in school, let alone he'd been chomping on a pacifier.

Though, Harry didn't believe either of _those_ statements until the prince had come back for his carriage and left. Then the foreigners, having accompanied him down, went back into the castle with McGonagall, towards the Gryffindor common room – not leaving with their minister. They were _still_ staying at Hogwarts.

At this revelation, voiced by Harry, Hermione went very quiet. Then she abruptly gasped and fisted her hand tightly in the front of Ron's robes, causing him to call out. Another moment and she began to blush.

"What's _wrong_, Hermione?" Ron said indigently, rubbing the back of his neck and trying to loosen her grip on his cloak, "Jeez, _scare_ me, will you…?"

"They hadn't been stalking us, Ron, that's why they're still here – that's why Dumbledore let them stay here," She looked at them worriedly, Harry in particular. "They were protecting you. That's why they were always where you were, that's why they were always so friendly to you, why they always killed the demons themselves – they _were_ working for Japan, but on _our_ side…"

There was a pause, in which the students around them talked loudly, and then Ron started laughing. Hermione glared up at him, releasing his robes to fold her arms.

"Oh that's _great_," Ron gasped, grasping Harry's shoulder to keep upright, "And didn't you think they were _evil_ or something—?"

"It's already embarrassing enough without _you_ to add, Ronald!"

"Err, oi, in all fairness, the situation made it pretty easy to confuse the two… And with my reputation, it's not like it's stupid to assume that people who're acting strangely around me want to kill me, right? It's not like it's the first time."

"_Thank you_, Harry," Hermione said imploringly, huffing at Ron, "At least _someone's_ being polite about this."

Ron just sniggered at her.

"C'mon, I want to see their faces when we tell them you thought they were—,"

"_Stop _it! Besides, I think Minamino already knew to an extent…"

Then Ron saw something over their heads, and started waving at a person coming from the direction of Dumbledore's office, calling out, "Tonks! Over here!"

Harry and Hermione turned, and after a moment, Nymphadora Tonks broke through the crowd. She was in her auror's uniform, her hair the usual sharp pink, and she smiled and started to wave as she walked towards them.

"Hello, you three! Did you see the Minister?" She giggled. "Isn't he funny? I wonder why he had a pacifier – I mean, I know Japanese princes are rather pampered, but isn't it weird that they wouldn't break him of such a habit? And besides, pacifiers aren't very Asian, don't you think so?"

"Yes, it was all rather strange, wasn't it? But Tonks, could you tell us about what's going on with the foreigners…?"

Tonks winked at Hermione. "Of _course_ not! I would ruin the surprise. Dumbledore's planning on addressing you lot tonight at supper; it would only be fair to the other students that _you_ wait just as them."

"_Aww_, c'mon, Tonks—,"

"No, Ron, I'm sorry! Besides, Mr. Willard – the head auror of the group stationed here, you know – specifically said after briefing us on the situation that we were not to disclose any information until it is declared unclassified by the Ministry – which would be, for you lot, at dinner tonight. So be pat– oh! Look, it's the Minister."

And the Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, was walking at a brisk pace through the front hall and down the steps outside with several other officials, including Percy (who Ron took the opportunity to flip off). This seemed to signal the end of the congealment in the front hall, as students all at once began the slow processes of dispersing.

"Well, I ought to be going, then! Kingsley and I are some of the aurors instructed to help with the demon-clean up, and I'm already late—,"

"So the Ministry recognizes demons exist now?"

Tonks blinked at Hermione, whose mouth had been set into a thin, determined line. The auror smiled apologetically. "Oops. Don't tell anyone before supper. Goodbye, you three! Stay out of trouble – and leave those poor foreign boys alone!"

People turned and stared at the three at the last bit as Tonks hurried on outside. But they didn't pay them much mind; they were used to being gawked at.

**lll**

After determining that studying for tomorrow's tests was an unachievable conquest until she relaxed a bit, Hermione took most of the rest of the afternoon calming down about her revelation concerning the true intentions of the foreigners. The more she had thought about it, the more everything made sense – of course the demon slayings and the stalking of Harry, but then other things, such as the fact that none of them had ever been bothered by their inexplicable unpopularity, probably because they hadn't been sixteen for a long time. By that theory, Yusuke's particular delinquent-like behavior and Minamino's polite air were obviously because they were several years older; let alone the fact that all three had been perfectly unbothered at the carnage they had created that morning. Everything had been explained and elaborated to Harry and Ron, and Harry had added that it now also made sense as to why Minamino had so easily purchased Ginny's new broom; they were probably paid rather handsomely for their work, and a broomstick must have seemed not a very over-the-top gift from a trio who were employed by the Minister of Japan.

She'd had a headache afterwards, for whatever reason; she attributed it to that morning's stress.

But in any case, even after she smoothed out the panic-wrinkles in her mind, studying was still a problem. She only covered Transfiguration, Herbology, and Ancient Runes before she couldn't concentrate any longer. Hermione ended up napping until Ron woke her up an hour or so later to go to dinner.

And after the talkative, curiously foreigner-free supper, Dumbledore had called everyone to silence.

He forewarned that to accept what he was about to say, one needed to clear their mind of all rumors they'd heard over the past day.

And then he explained the conclusion Hermione had previously come to, that the Ministry was officially recognizing the Demon as a non-extinct breed, based on what had been documented at Hogwarts that morning. Then he elaborated on the situation with the foreigners, how they had indeed been expelled because they had continually broke school rules (everyone had once again looked imploringly at Ron, Harry, and Hermione); but _were_ still residing at the school, only not as students. This had come about because Japan had offered its services to Great Britain that day (hence the appearance of both the Japanese and the British Ministers), and so the foreigners were no longer acting as students from Japan, but as employees of Japan's government. Until something was officially worked out, they were not to be bothered unnecessarily by the students, as they had duties to attend to.

He wisely left out the detail of what sort of business the foreigners were attending to.

But at the news, the students all were stunned. Dean had looked rather peculiar next to an 'I'd-thought-there-was-something-off-about-them-oh-well' Ginny; and upon being asked by his girlfriend what was bothering him, he disconnectedly answered that he was going to kill Minamino for being an adult and hitting on a fifteen-year-old girl. Though he did not specify the fifteen-year-old, everyone at the table was perfectly aware of whom he spoke. This turned Ginny's face scarlet, and since making such a headstrong girl blush was a terrible offense in the realms of normality, it immediately sparked a whispered, heated argument between the two. With this exchange, Lavender promptly began to exclaim somewhat loudly about how wonderful it was that Minamino was staying, but with him working for the greater good now, how would they spend time together any longer? Neville, by comparison, looked rather sick. Hermione watched Harry pat his shoulder awkwardly, reassuring him of something or other under his breath. Also, over at the Ravenclaw table, Cho looked as though she had just been sucker-punched, the unlikely company of Luna Lovegood smiling next to her knowingly, arms locked with the girl in a maternal way that made everyone around them stare.

The Common Room was in an uproar that night, everyone talking about how there had been two Japanese spies operating under the Gryffindor's noses for so long. Students suddenly began to pop up, telling stories about how they had seen a variety of different nonsensical things concerning the boys, such as Hiei coming into the dorm through the window at four-o'-clock in the morning. It was quite a long and restless night, to the point where Hermione had to resort to Ron's loud, threatening yell to get some of the younger students to go to bed; or at the very least shut up.

Hermione didn't get to sleep before late that night, between prefect duties demanding she get the other students under control, and an endless pondering of recent events. She was just beginning to think about all the times the foreigners had talked about confronting demons, perhaps hinting to a fight they'd once had, or how they'd almost gotten killed by one. Or the unique instance in which Minamino had suggested they knew a demon – perhaps were even on good terms with such. The description he'd given had fitted a demon, she thought, except for the handsome part; but there were exceptions to every rule. Maybe it was a genetic defect that the – what had he called it? a dog demon?; a wolf demon? – that the demon was beautiful, instead of like the frightening creatures from that morning.

And as she fell out of consciousness, she began into a dream.

She was back on the snowy Hogwarts grounds, but it was nighttime. She was observing three people she immediately knew as the foreigners, even though she watched from afar, and they were once again killing hoards of demons, bringing back the stench of that horrible, sticky blood. When they were all dead, the foreigners turned and began to walk towards her; and as they neared she saw they each had the face of one of the demons they'd just killed.

**lll**

Harry had been asking Hermione what was wrong since she'd first come down into the Common Room – and Ron had joined in after a while, both observing her unusually pale face and quiet demeanor. But each time they made an inquiry, she merely shook her head, bit the end of her thumb, and told them she'd have to think on it a while before she could explain.

It made them a little worried – but not quite as worried as when the trio arrived at breakfast.

With the mail brought a windblown and woe-begotten Errol, the Weasley family's pet owl. He was getting old, and by the feathers sticking out of his wings at odd angles, his flight had been rather rough, so Ginny made sure to help him out of the air as he landed before her and Ron. She was sitting with them today after her fight with Dean the night before; and the two now sat at different ends of the table.

After Errol flew off to the Owlery, Ginny opened the letter he'd borne with Ron looking over her shoulder. By the second paragraph written in Mrs. Weasley's hand, they had gasped, which distracted the other two sitting with them long enough so that none of them noticed the hush that quickly spread over the tables; only to abruptly change into an even louder buzz of talking.

"'What? Did something happen with the family?" Harry asked as Hermione looked up from her pumpkin juice.

"No, no, it's just – mum says the foreigners are _staying _with us over Christmas break!"

"_What_?"

Ron nodded, a look of relief on his face. "Yeah, but it's obvious by how she wrote this that they sent it off before yesterday – mum said something about them not having anywhere to stay over the holidays, and we know now that they're adults, so that can't be true – but since they aren't in school anymore, that means they won't have to stay with us after all."

Harry let out the breath he'd been holding. Ginny hit him in the arm, saying severely, "Oi, Harry, don't tell me _you're _being a git about them, too! God, what is _with_ you blokes lately? _Everyone's_ going off on the foreigners!"

Harry immediately flushed. "Oh I'm sorry, Ginny! It's just that I guess I still think of them as being—,"

"Evil? Sadistic? _Malnutritioned_?"

The four gave a start, and as they turned to look behind them, they caught Yusuke glaring at an unimpressed Minamino.

Yusuke continued, not taking his eyes off the redhead, "'Coz you_ know_, Harry, those are _all_ good descriptions for us. Specifically, that _last_ one is good for Hiei and me. _Kurama_, of course, is the first two, the sonofa _bi_—,"

"Oh be quiet, Yusuke, we would have caused a commotion if we'd been at dinner last night. Even Hiei agreed with me."

"Yeah, but _Hiei_ was also human enough to complain about the shitty food you brought back from the goblins – pun unintended!"

"They're _house elves_, Yusuke; the goblins are in Gringotts," Minamino amended, rolling his eyes.

"Whatever! You're still crazy!"

Minamino continued anyway, folding his arms, "Yusuke, it wouldn't kill you to eat a vegetable every once in a while. Even _you_ would die on a diet of only meat."

"Hey, been there, done that, Fox-Boy!" He shoved his hands into his pockets moodily, sticking out his lower lip. "I've been slammed by anything from cars to crazies, and _somehow_, _I_ don't think a little _dead cow_ is going kick my ass, you know what I mean?"

The other sighed and waved him off, muttering something in Japanese under his breath.

Hiei had already jostled himself in between a seventh-year boy and Hermione, and was currently shoveling food into his mouth. Yusuke grumpily did the same, taking the spot on Hiei's other side. Minamino rolled his eyes at the two again, nodded politely at Harry, Ron, and Ginny's raised eyebrows, and quickly strode off, making it behind the Great Hall doors rather quickly for a person who was walking – though in his defense, they were sitting at the end of the table closest to the entrance.

A moment later, Lavender stood up from the table, dragging Parvati along with her, calling after Minamino.

In the back of Harry's mind, he wondered if it was a coincidence.

In any case, he noticed the foreigners looked a lot older now. Perhaps it had been the fact that they had told everyone they were sixteen, and he'd accepted the answer so willingly he didn't notice the fact that any one of them looked about in college; or perhaps because they had nearly always worn their uniforms, which made them appear younger, while their street clothes seemed to accentuate their age – except for Hiei, but that was his height more than anything. In actuality, Hiei's clothes were the strangest, consisting of a black, dress-like cloak and white scarf with black, zipper-less boots. He reminded Harry of a superhero (or, more-so a supervillain), what with him always wearing strange things – but without the spandex, of course.

The breakfast was passed in silence, Hiei and Yusuke acting as if nothing had ever changed, thus making everyone else around them feel nervous. When Ginny asked the two if they knew anything about the arrangement to stay with them over Christmas, Yusuke happily answered (much more benevolent with food in him) that they knew of it, but they hadn't been told whether or not it was still in affect after yesterday.

"It'll 'prolly still be on if Japan and Britain get an official alliance, though."

"And that's because you were assigned to watch Harry?"

Yusuke stared at Hermione blankly for a moment while Hiei decimated his pancakes in syrup. Then he burst out into a wide grin.

"Ohmigod, we _knew _you were on to us! _Hah_!" And he began nudging Hiei with his elbow, making the other boy glare at him. "Right, Hiei?" Hiei's face told him he didn't really care. Yusuke continued anyway, "Ooo, Kurama was _soo_ pissed off at you!" Hermione's eyes widened slightly, and she swallowed her bite of biscuit a little heavily. "I mean, he didn't _show_-show it, like a normal person does, but you could see he was fuming on the inside. Heh, you remember what Youko said that one time back in October, Hiei?" About this time, Botan came into the Great Hall, still wearing her uniform. She quickly skipped over to Hiei and Yusuke, stopping short with a look of shock on her face as she heard Yusuke mimic someone in a deep, comically pompous voice, "'Paranoid little wretch, no damn life and nosy to boot, always stepping on our tails – a perfectly delightful assailant for once…' Yeah, you're truly a genius, 'Mione," Yusuke said affectionately, making Ron glance at him sharply, "Neither of us can make 'im that angry without doing something rash, like giving him the haircut he never knew he wanted," And then he grinned cattishly, "And that's not counting Youko, _he_ was real impressed with you. Pissed Kurama off _again_ with that one. He hates it when Youko's happy; he tends to be more annoying that way."

Hiei snorted into his pancakes, shoving one whole into his mouth. After chewing little and swallowing it, he said, casually, "You're dead, Detective. Kurama hates it when you talk about him like that. Or his absurd enthrallment with Hermione," Then he smirked somewhat maliciously into his plate, adding, "And Neville."

Everyone at the table froze. Then Yusuke turned to Hiei, a pleading look in his eyes, as he groaned, "Oh Hiei, you're not gonna' tell him, are you?"

"Who's Youko?"

"Uh—,"

"Oh! Well, you see, ah – Youko's just Hiei's cousin's friend's uncle's monkey's daughter's roommate!" Botan laughed nervously from behind them, causing Yusuke to glare at her and make a conspicuous 'stop-talking-dammit' motion with his hands. Botan ignored him, gesturing in a jittery way, "He's no one important, let's leave it at that. You might think you know what Yusuke – _you_ _idiot_—," She hissed underneath her breath, smacking him on the top of his head, afterwards continuing like nothing had happened, "—was talking about, but you'd be wrong! He just knows a different Neville and Hermione in Japan. _Right_, boys?"

The smirk on Hiei's face said otherwise. Yusuke mumbled an affirmative, scowling as he shoved an entire muffin in his mouth, seemingly with the purpose of choking himself.

Botan cleared her throat, avoiding eye contact with those at the table. Then she announced in a sing-song voice, abruptly cheery once again, "Koenma-sama will be here in ten minutes, and remember, he wants us in the front hall to greet him again," Then she lent down and said, worriedly, "And I don't know where Kurama is – I've looked everywhere. You guys'll have to help me before Koenma arrives, you know you're the only ones who can find him if he doesn't want to be found. I think using the whistle would be a little harsh…"

"Oh, right, no worries, Botan. He's probably just hiding from Brown," Yusuke agreed, nodding, "I think he wants to put off telling her as soon as possible."

Hiei snorted again. "No duh."

Hermione asked suspiciously as the two stood up to leave, "What do you mean about Lavender?"

"Uh, well, if you hadn't noticed (which you have)," Yusuke added with a quick smirk, "up until about yesterday, we were kinda' like spies trying to find out as much about Vorldomart—," Oblivious to Yusuke and exempting Harry, everyone at the table flinched, "—without attracting his attention. So, we kinda' had to shake you guys for information a lot, but without making it obvious so that no one noticed, and, err…" Yusuke shrugged, turning to follow Botan and Hiei, "Kurama was our best informant. 'Coz, you know, he's really pretty. Anyway, _don't tell him you heard something about Youko_! People will _die_!"

And he made a fast dash for the double doors, passing Hiei and Botan quickly.

After a moment, Ginny looked rather furious.

"So he's been _seducing_ girls _years_ younger than him to get _information_? That _wanker_!" She yelled the last word, making people around her jump. Then she hopped off the bench and stormed out of the Great Hall, ignoring the others as they tried to talk to her.

"…Is it just me, or did she come to the same conclusion that Dean did last night?"

"Oh, shut up, Ron, it's a totally different thing when you hear it from someone who knows what was going on, as compared to your jealous boyfriend. Besides, Minamino _did_ seem rather nice, so it wasn't quite believable…but I guess we know now why he's in Slytherin, now."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, he's a manipulating bastard. Sounds like someone _I'd_ want watching over me, eh, Harry?"

Harry nodded disconnectedly. He had feeling he needed to pull out his Marauder's Map again tonight – and maybe Neville needed see it, too.

"Go on, now, get to class!" McGonagall had descended from her place at the teacher's table and was waving her hands at the Gryffindor students obligingly, "Don't any of you be late for your exams."

* * *

**Footnotes: **

**None that I know of – unless meh Beta can think of ****anything.**

_**Rei: Nope!**_

**NOTES****: So, it has been brought to my attention once again that there are in fact plot holes in my story – primarily with Hermione's reasoning.  
****I don't really know what to say other than I'm sorry about those. Ack . . . I might bring them up later in the actual story in some way, but for now, I don't really know what to do other than apologize.  
****But really, thank you for writing me a novel. I do love them! (it's the second one I've gotten, don't cha' know?)  
****Oh, and then someone else (who wrote me a vignette, bless her) mentioned that I accidentally was calling the **_**Daily Prophet**_**, the **_**Daily Profit**_**. Eh. Just letting you know, I've fixed the mistake in my hard copy of this, and so all shall be well once I get around to updating the other chapters. And I would also like to say that I am American, not British, which is probably why the long-hair-gay-person-mistake-thing came about. I didn't even think to look up cultural differences when I was writing that part, so . . . yeah. I'll probably fix it at some point, but I'd like to apologize (again) to any UK readers who were wondering about that.  
****Yeah . . . so. In any case, this chapter was a little half-assed, yes, but I believe the good stuff'll be starting up again in 13. Besides, we want to stick to the whole more-shorter-chapters deal, oui? So would you rather have twelve now, or wait another week for both this and the finished treaty chappy mushed into one big bonanza you may or may not have the attention span to read?  
****For case and point, see chapter three.  
****Anyway. The new mini-conflict shouldn't last too long, just a few more chappies or so. Then we'll shift into the last one, which may or may not wrap up the entire atrocity in another five-seven chappies and leave me able to write other things without guilt or sin. All in all, 'bout a 'nother year to wrap this up if I keep on the way I'm going, a little over if I get lazy. Twenty-five chappies at most, if I'm lucky.  
****Oh my gosh, that is a fun non-word. "**_**Chappies**_**." Tee hee.  
****Psht. Anyway. I talk too much.  
****Oh, and I just want to add that even though Karasu is not in this story, I am not so innocent as to deny that I didn't try. :P I am a terrible Karasu fanchick (probably stemming from my adoration of torturing Kurama). **


	13. In which Snape is a Quadruple Agent

**Key:  
****"Talking – English in an English setting / Japanese in a Japanese setting; Japanese heard by a person who speaks only English and visa-versa."  
****'Talking – Any other language than the "text in the quotation marks."'  
****'_Telepathy'  
_**_**Thinking / Conscience**_

**NOTICE: My user name has changed from Nai-bu to Lache-avec-du-Charme (mouthful, I know, but my old French teacher used to call me that) because, for lack of better explanation, I got bored with the old one. So don't flip out or anything. **

**DISCLAIMATOR UPDATED: Most certainly contains spoilers for Harry Potter Books 1-7 and YuYu Hakusho.**

**Ugh. I need to re-read the Harry Potter series again.  
****I almost typed "Organization XIII" instead of "Order of Phoenix," like, three times. **

**I don't really mind too much whether you people send me reviews or not, but **_**god **_**is it entertaining when you do. Especially the long ones. Hey, speaking of things that entertain me, I love it when one of you call me "love" and "dude" and "god" and stuff. **_**That**_** is truly heartwarming, peoples.  
****In other news, you dearies will surely be thrilled to know (as am I, **_**trust**_** me) that the last smattering of politics should be finished up in thirteen – at least for several more chapters. But the general idea is that I see no more politics in your near future.  
****We can finally get around to ze second plot line, and more entertaining chapter titles.  
****Oh, yeah, and I'm implementing some of what we learned in the 7****th**** book into here, because Snape was my favorite character even before he started liking ze Lily. **

**EDIT: Apparently, FF messed with the text again. Something about "dfsdjkfhNeville" or whatever. Eh. Well I fixed it, but let me know if anything else happens. Thank you to hinata-naruto-neji-HNN for catching it! **

**Rated T for Teen**

* * *

**Chpt. 13  
In which Snape is Two Shoes Over a James, James Bond; alternative title In which Snape is a Quadruple Agent**

Neville frowned at him nervously.

"Umm, not to be rude, Harry, but I didn't really mean for you to take what I said so seriously—,"

"No really, Neville, you were on to something. Just, hold it, will you?" Harry called over his shoulder, shoving books and stray parchment paper out of his way as he dug in his trunk for the Marauder's Map. Neville was seated on his dorm bed across from Harry, silently watching him shift through the random contents.

Most of the other students were enjoying the end of the end-of-term exams downstairs in the common room, or otherwise about the castle. Some had even ventured outside to play in the remaining snow, though a good portion of it had been removed because of the demon blood spilled across it. This is why the two were alone in their dorm room, and why, without anyone beyond Neville to watch him, Harry was so conspicuously digging through his trunk.

Finally, he found the bit of parchment, a little more dog-eared than he would have liked but otherwise intact and (as far as blank, magicked pieces of parchments go) legible.

Stuffing the paper into the inside pocket of his robes as he turned to face Neville, Harry said, "Er, d'you know anywhere we might be able to go so no one else will see us?"

Neville's frown deepened, and then he scooted off the edge of the bed, staring uncertainly out the window s he stood. Then he said, looking back at Harry, "Well, everyone should be out of the Owlery by now, it's so late in the afternoon...I guess if you didn't mind the droppings, we could go there..."

And so it was that the two were trekking up the spiral staircase to the Owlery, with only twilight to see by since the sun was already setting. When they made it to the top of the tower, they wordlessly headed for the stone bench with the least amount of bird droppings.

Scooting an owl out of the way, which took off from its perch with a reprimanding hoot, Harry sat down on the bench. Neville mirrored him, and then Harry reached into his robe and spread out the blank piece of parchment.

Neville narrowed his eyes at him reproachfully.

"Okay, you have to promise not to tell anyone what I'm going to show you. The only people at school who know about this are Ron and Hermione, and it's probably the only reason it hasn't been confiscated from me yet," Though that's not to say it hadn't come close. "So I'm trusting you a lot on this, Neville."

"...Y-you're not teasing me, are you, Harry? I already told you that I know it's stupid to—,"

Harry sighed, not even bothering this time to tell Neville otherwise. He'd believe him soon enough, anyway. He interrupted the boy, saying, "Neville, I can't remember, but did you hear any of what Hiei and Yusuke were talking about today at breakfast?"

"Er, no. I saw Yusuke run away from the table, but other than that..."

"Oh. Well, while we were talking to them, Yusuke said something about this guy named Youko, that he, er, liked you," Neville's expression turned confused. "Anyway, I talked to Hermione and Ron about it, and we're pretty sure that there're no other foreigners here besides the four since they would have appeared when the Japanese Minister came. So, based on what you said, and something I found a month or so ago, and how Hiei talked about Minamino and Youko together, we think they might be the same person. As in, Minamino might have two personalities."

Neville stared at Harry blankly.

"Here, let me show you what I mean..." And Harry spread the map out on the space of bench between them, afterwards tapping the surface of the Marauder's Map with his wand, saying, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

As Neville watched the parchment turn itself into a map, his expression slowly worsened until it became obvious that he was very shocked. Harry motioned for him to look through the map, and Neville began to turn through its folds, finally finding the Owlery; pointing at the two dots labeled as Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. Slowly, he looked back up, mouth slightly open.

Harry just smirked at him. Then he started to fiddle with the map, turning to the section which showed Dumbledore's office; explaining once he had found it, "The main reason we came up with the idea of Minamino being loopy is, well, look..." And then he pointed to the office.

The room was tightly packed, with Dumbledore and McGonagall, both ministers, all four foreigners and several other ministry officials. Neville said aloud, furrowing his eyebrows, "'The Forbidden Child Hiei'...?" before he found Minamino's dot.

Squinting, he pointed to the jumble of letters, saying, "Who's that?"

"Minamino," Harry replied.

Neville shot him a look, coming to the same conclusion Harry first had; "Is there, er, someone on top of him?"

"That's actually what I thought at first, too," He said, "But if you think about it, it could also mean that he has two names, one for each of his personalities – the one we usually see, Minamino, and the one who likes you, Youko. That's kind of how Hiei suggested it – and then it would make sense if you take into consideration what you said, that sometimes it feels like he thinks you're boring and interesting at the same time. Right?"

Neville nodded numbly. "But, er, Harry," He said as Harry opened his mouth to continue, "what does this have to do with anything? I mean, what does it matter if he has two personalities, or three, or none at all?"

"Well..." He paused, deciding whether or not to inform him of Hermione's conspiracy theories. Finally he said, "Ron, Hermione, and I – well, mostly Hermione – noticed there was something weird about the foreigners straight off, like how they always followed me around – yeah, don't ask—," He added when Neville shot him an alarmed look. "—and things like that. Now it's obvious that they weren't trying to kill me or anything, but still, Dumbledore told us to watch the foreigners closely. And even though he'll probably tell us to stop it as soon as he quits being so busy, it wouldn't hurt to still look into the really weird things, right?"

Neville sighed, and shrugged, squinting down at the jumbled name again.

"So, shouldn't we find out what the other name is? I mean, would it be too much to just ask him...?"

"Yeah, I think so. After Yusuke talked about Youko, he, Hiei, and Botan acted like it was really bad that he did. He practically begged us not to talk to Minamino about it."

"Oh. Well, d'you think we could just figure the names out by looking at it? I mean, one of them is obviously Shuichi Minamino..."

"And we know part of the other name has to be 'Youko.' So let's start there."

"Alright."

**lll**

The details of the treaty provided by Japan were a little too detailed for Great Britain. One of the main arguments was that while Japan had agreed to back up Great Britain in war if it needed an ally, it was only when the war had occurred because it threatened the safety of humans in relation to demons. Great Britain wanted it so that Japan would aid them in war whenever the war was related to demons, period.

Then, the treaty said that Japan would be able to control the quantity and quality of troops which were supplied to Great Britain in wartime. But Britain wanted a committee formed consisting of British and Japanese officials so that the two countries could decide together how many troops were fair based on Great Britain's needs and Japan's economical conditions, and vote on the outcome.

The final main point of the treaty, suggested by Koenma, was that as long as Lord Voldemort was alive, Japan would be responsible for providing body guards for the individual Harry James Potter, and variably for those concerning said boy, because of the unmentioned concerns of both countries. Britain agreed with this, but also wanted to have the power to approve and veto the people who Japan selected as guardians.

The discussions concerning the treaty lasted through Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, each day from six-o'-clock in the morning to nine-o'-clock at night. It proved that the two countries and their representatives wanted to be united as soon as possible.

They finally finished the treaty around five-o'-clock in the afternoon on Friday. The major points of the treaty said that Japan would follow Great Britain to battle only when the war was because of the safety of humans in relation to demons; that Japan and Great Britain would form a joint committee which would determine the amount of troops deployed by Japan to aid Great Britain; and that Great Britain could approve and veto the body guards which would be given to Harry James Potter.

Upon completion, the treaty was then sent off to the British Ministry of Magic to be made into finalized copies for both countries, one in English and the other in the Japanese Kanji. It was also decided that the two countries would meet again the next day with the intension of signing the treaty, forming the Japanese troops committee and decide on the guards for Harry Potter.

After the signing on Saturday, discussions consisted simply of long lists of people who might be eligible for a position on the committee, and the agreement that the committee would be jointly presided over by the heads of the Foreign Policies branches of Great Britain and Japan. Only a small percentage of time was taken up by the decision of Harry Potter's guards, suggested by Koenma and approved by the Minister – and they were Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama, of course.

The days following Saturday would be irrelevant to the new body guards; since there was a long-standing treaty now in order, they were no longer necessary to Koenma's personal safety, and a more simple guard could now be substituted – and they had another job to do, besides. Botan would be joining them once her duties to Koenma were finished.

But, nine-o'-clock PM of Saturday night, there was still one more thing that had to be attended to, which did happen to include the three. Rufus Scrimgeour had left with his officials, and now it was only McGonagall and those of the Japanese government who graced Dumbledore's office.

"If you three would please follow me, I'll escort you back to your chambers to await the morning – and remember, please try to be ready to leave by seven-o'-clock at the latest," McGonagall said politely, standing up from her chair and motioning out the door. It had already been decided that Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama would be delivered to the Burrow, the place where Harry Potter was spending his break, by floo network.

"Ah, not quite yet, McGonagall-san," Koenma interrupted, not moving from his seat. "We still have some business to discuss with Dumbledore-san. I assure you, it will only take a moment. Please, sit back down."

Not quite sure what to make of the situation, McGonagall remained standing, glancing questioningly at Dumbledore. Dumbledore's eyes narrowed slightly at Koenma, saying to him, "Excuse me for asking, Koenma-sama, but what business do you have with me which would not include the Minister?"

"The business of your conspiracy, Dumbledore-san. The Order of Phoenix."

Both teachers' eyebrows shot up.

"Allow me to backpedal a bit. As you must have wondered, Japan is quite aware of how the British government has not been remotely competent at attempting to destroy Voldemort-sama over the years. But, after looking into the history of the organization the Order of Phoenix, we realized that you have been much more consistently effective at keeping him at bay than the Ministry ever was. Though we did officially sign an agreement with the Ministry, that's just legal business to take care of; the Order of Phoenix is the real society Japan wants to work with."

The statement left the two teachers rather speechless. But finally, McGonagall was able to get out, "How would you even know about the Order of Phoenix?"

Koenma merely shrugged. "Japan has methods of acquiring information which are – unique, to say the least. But let me note upfront that none of your members, past or present, leaked us the information. It would be unfortunate if an innocent was convicted of crimes that were never even committed."

"I see," Dumbledore began, quietly. "That is the reason you put three of your best men in charge of a mere boy... Firstly, he is an obvious place that Lord Voldemort would strike, and thus it would be wise to put a few apt combatants in such a good position to gather information about Voldemort, or to defeat him. Also, you must be aware by now that Harry Potter and his two friends..." Here he paused, glancing warily up at Koenma.

Koenma obliged him, finishing the sentence, "...Are actively involved in the Order, though they are not members—,"

"—And since you already told us that you would like to work with the Order personally, guarding Potter would be an easy way to manage that and still keep the organization secret."

"I see you understand us very well, Dumbledore-san. Now then, might we make arrangements to work with the Order of Phoenix? Like you surmised, we find no reason to alert the Ministry of our transactions. We would not mind handling this in secret."

"I suppose you would want these three—," And he motioned to Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama, "—to be included on reports to our members and things of the sort..."

"Yes."

"...And then you would want them to report our findings to you?"

"Well it would be preferable if you were able to report to me directly, and that we would perhaps find the time to meet during the months; but I'm sure we could also manage by using the boys as middlemen. Things might just end up being a little more complicated."

"I'm afraid the only way I would be able to feel comfortable doing something of the sort, would be if those who are dealing with us signed the contract all our members sign to ensure that they do not betray the Order."

Koenma smiled humorlessly around his pacifier. "Of course. It is the least you could ask of us. Might we do it now, so that leg of the agreement is done with by tomorrow?"

Dumbledore smiled back. "Ah, yes, of course. You'll want to be ready for when you see Harry, Ron, and Hermione again, won't you?"

Yusuke nodded, grinning. "'Bet you they're dying to see us."

**lll**

Voldemort laughed.

Snape ignored the obvious cringe that Wormtail made as he leant over the Dark Lord's shoulder, handing him a wine glass.

"I _knew_ it," Voldemort still fingered the newspaper issue that featured Great Britain and Japan's treaty. "I knew they could tell I was summoning – that's what the children were brought here for... Snape, are you aware of what this indicates?"

"I am not sure, my Lord. Please humor me."

"It means Japan has direct access to this demon plane, enough to where they have set up a system to monitor dimensional holes. Perhaps something that also senses magic or such interferences, so that they could quickly attribute the disturbances to something distinctive to European magic immediately," He leant forward in his chair, closer to the surface of the cauldron, a smile slicking his mouth. "Can't you imagine how..._practical_ such technology could be when put to proper use? Let alone—," And he sat back again, pensively nursing his wine, "—what other unique equipment Japan might have hidden away on their island..."

"Well thought, Sir."

"Yes... Snape, tell me; what are the names of the Japanese boys."

He didn't have to elaborate for Snape to know who he was talking about. "Yusuke Urameshi, Shuichi Minamino, Hiei—,"

"No, no – their _real_ names," When Snape seemed t a loss for words, Voldemort glared at him sharply, sighing angrily. "_What _do the other two call the red one – 'Minamino'?"

Ah. "Kurama, Sir."

"Yes, Kurama. Just Kurama and Hiei, I believe. Those are their real names – or rather, part..."

Snape kept a confused frown from reaching his face, staying carefully blank as he contemplated the meaning of what Voldemort was mumbling to himself about.

"Wormtail?"

"Yes, my Lord?"

"That spider demon? What was it he said about someone named Hiei, again?"

"Ahhh, I, I think he was a d-demon r-r-royalty."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, ss-sir. Th-th-the others made him stop after he ss-said that."

"I wish for Doyle and Johnston bring him to me afterwards," Voldemort sat his glass down somewhere and continued, "Go now and inform them."

Once Wormtail had left the room, Voldemort turned back to Snape and smiled amusedly. "It is quite heartbreaking that _Crucio_ does not affect demons, yes? A spell of the mind, how _unfortunate..._ But of course, there are _other_ ways to convince a creature to talk freely...

"I want those three's full names, Snape – in no way are either of them Jaganshi or Minamino, I'm sure of it. A mere confirmation for Urameshi would be adequate, he seems to be the only one without an alias, the fool... You're dismissed," Voldemort motioned at the cauldron surface, and like so many other times, the potion deactivated, the color swirling and fading away.

Snape cleaned up the potion mess and stowed the cauldron away, removing most evidence that he had ever been awake these last couple hours. Then he left his quarters, going into his classroom and exiting into the hallway.

In another ten minutes, he was saying, "Sno-Caps," to the two gargoyles guarding Dumbledore's office.

And then he was standing in front of Dumbledore's desk, watching Dumbledore stroke Fawkes beneath its feathery chin, smiling tiredly as he stood beside the dark window.

"All this excitement is really starting to wear me out," He began conversationally, "I'm beginning to worry if I'm getting too old for all this war and conspiracy. What do you think, Severus?"

"I don't believe I have a particular opinion on the matter."

After a moment, Dumbledore chuckled. "Ah, Severus. I apologize, I had forgotten how much you dislike small-talk. Please, have a seat and we'll get around to the point."

Snape said he'd prefer to stand.

"If you wish," Dumbledore answered pleasantly. "Now. What has Tom theorized for us tonight?"

**lll**

What with recent events, Dumbledore had taken the time to send note to Harry and Hermione that they could go to Ron's house over the break like they had intended before; since previous dangers were now irrelevant. And after Hermione had sent a quick owl to her parents and back, it was confirmed that they would indeed stay with Ron.

And the first week of vacation was very pleasant –– rather lazy, but comfortably so. Ron's older brother Bill arrived on Friday with the intension of staying at the Burrow until the day after Christmas, upon which he would have to return to work; and the twins were coming over to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with them, before going back to their joke shop. They had been much busier than usual ever since the trashing of their store several months earlier, trying to straighten out the financial mishaps that came with loosing a lot of merchandise; so, they only had time to take a day or two off from work. But everyone was excited to see them, anyway.

Then, Sunday came along.

Everyone was woken up early by Mrs. Weasley – six-o'-clock in the morning – though she usually let them stay in bed until nine. As Ginny and the trio ate their breakfast, Mrs. Weasley and her husband appeared flustered; Mrs. Weasley couldn't stop herself from looking to the fireplace every-so-often, and Mr. Weasley kept glancing from the newspaper he was reading to his wristwatch. Bill was perfectly normal by comparison, leisurely finishing his eggs and bacon. When Ron muttered to him about what was up with their parents, he only grinned at him and said, "You'll see."

In any case, it left everyone in a rather annoyed mood – to be woken up so early and not be told what they were being woken up for. Because they for sure knew there was something happening that morning when Mrs. Weasley suggested that, after breakfast, they should go upstairs and dress themselves nicely.

So after pulling on a clean sweat-shirt and a semi-wrinkled pair of slacks, Harry went outside to observe the snow, for lack of anything better to do. Inside, Ginny and Hermione had been recruited to help Mrs. Weasley fix another, slightly more elaborate breakfast, and Ron had somehow also been dragged into the equation, before Harry had become a target; and then there were no other jobs left for him.

"Don't worry, dear, once we get the pancake batter put together, I can make you stir – how's that?" Mrs. Weasley had said, nervous-cheerfully, to Harry's guilty face.

And with a 'don't worry I'll fend for-myself'-shrug from Ron, Harry had opted to go outside rather than watch Ron struggle with combining ingredients as Hermione laughingly guided him along. The atmosphere between his two friends made him feel like he would intrude if he tried to implement himself into their conversation, and neither had acted like they'd suffer from Harry's absence.

So Harry stood outside, breathing clouds in Mrs. Weasley's frozen garden for ten minuets before Ginny came through the front door, followed by the smell of cooking pancakes, and walked over to stand beside him. She was quiet for a moment, just sighing heavily and rubbing her hands over her upper arms, shivering. Then she looked over and smiled at Harry sheepishly.

"Sorry we didn't make you stir anything."

"Oh – s'all right, I guess."

"Yeah... it was just, Hermione volunteered, and then Ron joined in, and..." She sighed. There was a short pause before she came out and said, "They've been horrible for conversation the past week, haven't they?"

"Yeah," He returned her smile. "It's better than when they fight though, I s'pose."

"Maybe," She said, laughing quietly as she kicked at some of the snow layering the ground. "Got any idea why mum and dad are being all anal?"

Harry shrugged. "'Dunno. Maybe the Minister's coming to your house to ask if they can give me a body guard..." He said sarcastically. Ginny shook her head at him, seriously.

"Actually, that's what I was thinking – Yusuke said that if a compromise was reached between Japan and us, then they would probably be coming here to guard you, like before. Only more open." And then the corner of her mouth angled downward some.

Harry sighed.

"Hmm?"

"I 'dunno. Between you and your family, I'm not sure how pleasant the rest of vacation will go if they turn up..."

Upon first arriving at the Burrow, Mr. Weasley had made the mistake of asking Ginny about the foreigners; and Ginny, in renewed bout of righteous fury, had gone off on a tangent about how terrible a person Minamino was, entirely ignoring Hiei and Yusuke. Now, no one in the house really liked the sound of any of them.

Ginny laughed darkly. "Oh, Harry, don't make me _start..._"

"I won't," Harry quickly reassured her. Sure, he was a little cross with Minamino, too, being that there was now evidence that he could have been trying to manipulate Ginny with the broom, but at the same time he couldn't bring himself to honestly believe it. Maybe it was because Harry was a good person at heart, or maybe it had a little bit to do with the fact that Minamino's tactic hadn't worked on Ginny, beyond making her grateful.

In any case, they talked for a while longer, about what to get everyone for Christmas when Mrs. Weasley took them to Diagon Alley in a few days, or how the good pancakes would taste if Hermione happened to lapse in showing Ron what to do.

After several minutes, the front door swung open quickly, and Bill was standing in the threshold. "C'mon you two, Dumbledore just arrived."

"What for?" Ginny replied, "What's all—,"

But her sentence was interrupted with a sickeningly loud _smack_, and then a _thump_ from the direction of the sitting room, followed by "Oh! – are you all right?" and, "_Yus-kaay_!"

This prompted the three of them to stop talking and run into the Burrow's living room. They stopped at the threshold to the room, next to Hermione and Ron.

Dumbledore was standing off to one side of the Weasleys' fireplace, smiling cheerfully, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were gathered around two persons, one on the floor and the other standing guiltily off to the side, who had just arrived via floo powder.

Ginny laughed under her breath, whispering to Harry, "See? I told you."

* * *

**Footnotes****: **

**Eh. None again, unless Rei can think of anything, again. **

**Rei: Nope none here! :)**

**NOTES****: 'Kay, so someone said something 'bout Shuichi-Kurama being nineteen and that not being too much of a difference between fifteen, or sixteen, or whatever (you get the picture). Yuss, I agree, it's not that much of a change, especially because it's fifteen to nineteen as opposed to sixteen to twelve, or something of the nature; but note that Ginny, or anyone else for that matter, doesn't know how young they are. They do know, however, that they're trained specialists being paid large amounts of money (in brown paper bags) by a government to work in a semi-war. Personally, if I wasn't aware that Yusuke killed Younger Togoro when he was **_**fourteen**_** (and I'm not shatting you, he doesn't turn fifteen until after the Sensui Ark), I would think that one would have to be at least around twenty-five, maybe more, to have enough experience to qualify for such a position. So really, Ginny's under the impression they're all a little older than eighteen-ish.  
****So! On that note, someone also said that they thought Kurama would have moved them to a more secluded space to spar. I'll refer back up to the Yusuke-kicking-butt-when-he's-fourteen bit. One, it's something they would be able to tell the English peoples without jeopardizing the misson-y-thing, since it's entirely true and he was a human when it happened; and two, they weren't fighting at full-pace because Harry could follow their movements. Also, just because a bunch of people gathered around them and watched, doesn't mean that the original placement of the spar wasn't out-of-the-way. Just, being that wizards don't fight / duel / whatever with their bodies, it attracted way more attention than anticipated.  
****Thanks for helping me clear those up, though. **

**Anyway. Can you tell that Voldemort's one of my favorite characters to write? I hope not. Eh.  
****Oh, and anyone who's heard of Sno-Caps before **_**sooo**_** gets a cookie. Because I've already depleted my supply of Sno-Caps...****sniff.  
****Happy Thursday! **


End file.
